


Under My Skin

by iwishyouknew



Category: Bridgerton (TV), Bridgerton Series - Julia Quinn
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Just Get Married Already, Lawyers AU, Modern AU, Not Beta Read, Pranks, Rivalry, a lot of foot stomping, actual enemies they fight, anthony is a bossy family oriented guy and kate is a v smart drama queen, christmas with the bridgertons hehe, don't know we'll see i guess, edwina is lovely as usual she really is a sweetheart, first fic so be gentle please, he is her boss, i'm thinking of their zodiac signs rn, ladywhistledown twitter account, loosely suits inspired with all the law stuff, not a lot of law stuff though it s okay, they are very cute just wait for it, they are very intense and dramatic seriously, work place au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-14 06:13:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 22,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29166252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iwishyouknew/pseuds/iwishyouknew
Summary: Anthony Bridgerton wanted to settle down and have a family. He wanted a nice, sweet girl, who would share a peaceful life with him.He just never thought that her sister would cause so much trouble.Kate Sheffield just started her new job at a law firm and was feeling invincible. After so many years of hard work, she was ready to start her career. When her dear sister tells her, she has a new boyfriend, she pays no attention. Until she finds out it's none other than Anthony Bridgerton, her boss.Will she end up fired... or worse... In love?
Relationships: Anthony Bridgerton/Benedict Bridgerton, Anthony Bridgerton/Daphne Bridgerton, Anthony Bridgerton/Edwina Sheffield, Anthony Bridgerton/Eloise Bridgerton, Anthony Bridgerton/Francesa Bridgerton, Anthony Bridgerton/Kate Sheffield, Daphne Bridgerton/Simon Basset, Edwina Sheffield & Kate Sheffield, Kate Sheffield & Mary Sheffield, Simon Basset & Anthony Bridgerton, Violet Bridgerton & Kate Sheffield
Comments: 49
Kudos: 157





	1. On the verge of love

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!!  
> This is my first fic ever, so, please, be gentle with me, I'm still quite new to this.  
> I recently started rewatching Suits and thought that there was no better setting for this story, so here we are. Anthony is 30 and Kate is 24. I'm also thinking about their birth charts, so if you have any suggestions, please say so!
> 
> If you like or just tolerate or even hate this story, please do comment! I really liked these two characters after reading about them and I wanted to put my own twist on their story after finding out Season 2 is going to happen! Jonathan is AMAZING.
> 
> Sorry in advance for any mistakes.
> 
> Happy reading :)

Anthony wasn’t absurd. He really wasn’t. No matter his reputation as a very loving playboy or as a wonderful party animal. As much as others refused to believe, he was respectful, cultured and intelligent. He had endured a tad too many reprimands from his mother regarding his so very strong personality over the course of his teenage years for him not to be the best of the best. Successfully and quite rapidly he went from a light-hearted, naïve boy to a mature, responsible young man. A fatherless young man. A fatherless young man who had to step in as a parental figure for most of his siblings. His mother, Violet, did more than was humanly possible, but it seems that the loss of a parent leaves a hole bigger than before.

Benedict, at age 16, tried to take some of the burden from Anthony’s shoulders, but he wasn’t allowed to. He searched for the advice of an older mind, someone who understood his problems. In a short period of time, Anthony gained the years Benedict needed him. Colin, 11, always saw his father as a hero and his older brother as an annoying sidekick. For quite some time, he refused to see Anthony as a substitute for their father or accept his advice or word. His resistance fell down as months after the funeral, Colin found he could not sleep alone fearing that as he would wake Anthony would be gone. Daphne, at age 10, suffered just as much and longed for her father’s affections and stories. Who would wipe her tears now after her nightmares? Anthony found himself sleeping next to not one, but two of his siblings. Who would take her riding? Edmund tried to teach all of his children the joys of horse riding, but only two seemed to inherit the same pleasure. So were the weekly ridings planned. And they hold to this day twelve years later. Eloise, six years old, was already thirsty for more knowledge than a normal kid was, and so, Anthony, scoured every library in London for books to bring home to his sister. At first to read with her slowly classic stories to articles that Anthony struggled to understand why a teenager would be interested in. Francesca, just a year younger, made of Anthony quite a dancer. At first, he drove her to her dance lessons, but then, what brother would not want to watch his sister dance? But, of course, just watching her, he could not help but learn. A bit better than her, seeing as at her first show, Francesca stopped dead in her tracks and searched for Anthony through the crowd because she couldn’t remember her moves. George and Hyacinth, bless their hearts for losing a soul quite so young, had no expectations from Anthony and were free to do with him as they pleased.

Anthony found himself often toeing the line from brother to father. Somedays he would show Benedict how to talk to girls and then he would scold Colin for not paying attention in school. Anthony won’t lie to you. He endured many nights of heavy drinking, thinking that, at 18, he had seven siblings to take care of, a university life to have and so many more. As much as Violet did, he could not leave her to care for eight children. Seven. He wasn’t a child anymore. And so, he drank a bit more and returned home. Where he often found his bed with more than two siblings in it.

With such a busy homelife, his reputation was the least of his worries. He paraded around more than a few girls and he enjoyed his rogue image. Maybe he left them heartbroken, but they knew what they were getting into.

Well, how could they not know. Lady Whistledown’s twitter account followed the young man’s life with a very attentive eye. How he detested her.

Present day, at age 30, his mother gives him subtle hints that she wishes to see him married. He tried explaining to her that in this day and age, people don’t marry as fast and easily as before. But, given that all of his family before him married at a young age because of true love, Violet Bridgeton saw no other options for her children. Happily, and in love was her main goal.

As previously mentioned, Anthony Bridgeton is a very intelligent man. But with a good number of faults. Looking at those married around him, he saw a very big problem in each relationship. Love. It blurs one’s mind way beyond repair. Of course, one should respect and appreciate their respective partner. As many are focused on having children, it is best to be friends. But love is not always the answer. Those around him say quite often that it was terribly wrong for him to be born in such a progressive generation and not in the Regency Era. Yes, a terrible mistake.

One day in September, Anthony stopped by Colin’s university to drop off his forgotten phone. As he did, he encountered a very beautiful girl. She looked about twenty, barely. She was very pretty; one could not deny her that. Ivory skin, blond curls and baby blue adoring eyes. He later found out that Edwina Sheffield was the name of the girl. Also, later he took her out on a date. Anthony found he had fun spending time with Edwina. They didn’t have much in common, but they talked with each other freely and seemed to resonate on most things.

Three months later, Anthony and Edwina celebrated their three-month anniversary. Looking at her, he saw a very orderly future with her. They would have kids, maybe two, and they would get along very well and just as he wanted, he would not fall in love with her. Anthony was not cruel, he planned to tell her of his views on marriage, but not quite yet. A month or two more and he would pop the question. What a joy for his mother to see him married with such a fine young lady.

This young lady had just one fatal flaw. Her sister. It seemed like this dear sister occupied most of her thoughts. Barely anything happened without her knowing. Anthony fears that she creeps around corners.

First of December came and saw the young couple outside a café near Covent Garden.

“Anthony, you didn’t do that. I don’t believe it.”

“Why wouldn’t I? He deserved it!” he laughed. “Colin was a little git when he was younger and he fully deserved waking up soaked every Friday.”

“Your poor siblings. You’re quite the brother.” Edwina smiled sweetly at him before her phone dinged. She looked down and read the message before replying.

“Something the matter?” he asked. But he knew. He could feel it. It was the bloody sister. _Kate._ This woman picked her moments perfectly to disturb Anthony’s time with her younger sister.

“Oh, my sister just texted me she’s coming over. I better be going.” Edwina said. He knew it. That damn witch.

“Well, since we’ve arrived, I’ll leave you two. I’ll pick you up from your apartment Sunday at five. Is that okay?” he asked. They had plans this weekend. He hadn’t thought of the plans yet, but they had them.

“It’s perfect. I’ll see you, Anthony.” She rose up on her toes and kissed him on his cheek before entering her home.

* * *

Kate Sheffield adored her family. Mary, her stepmother, was in every way her mother, just not by name. She took care of Kate just as well as she did with Edwina and loved them equally. And how could she not love Mary when she gave her her younger sister?

It was no secret how close the two were. Edwina, delicate as she was, didn’t show it, but she didn’t know how to function without Kate’s input. And why should she know how to? It’s not like they were co-dependent, just loving sisters. And older sister, Kate, couldn’t imagine a world without the family she loved so very much. Thus, her protective side being a bit much. Even Mary suffered from her constant remarks regarding her safety. “I’m a grown woman, Kate, I can decide if it’s safe to go to the market alone.” Kate disagreed.

Done with law school, Kate started working at the famous law firm Bridgertons. She was very much aware of the fact that her sister’s boyfriend worked there, but he was not. She managed to never cross his path. She just knew that it wasn’t the moment to introduce herself. But she saw him. As little as she saw, she could see that his reputation was true. He was bossy, bossier than a name partner usually was. Of course, she was just an associate. For now.

Kate’s phone ringed. “Hello?”

“KATE! Okay, please, please help me.”

“What happened, Edwina…” Her sister usually wasn’t this frantic.

“I’m supposed to be meeting Anthony at my apartment, but I’m stuck in traffic and won’t be there for at least an hour. Can you please go there and wait with him until I come?”

“Edwina…”

“Oh, pretty please, you’ll meet him and you’ll see he’s not so bad.” Her sister bargained and as much as she didn’t want to meet the famous rogue boyfriend, she knew she had to at some point.

“I’ll go.”

At ten past five, Anthony got tired of waiting around Edwina’s door with no response. He reserved quite an expensive table… He wouldn’t miss the money, but he still wished to go. Just as he reached for his phone, he heard footsteps coming from the stairs.

Kate Sheffield, he would come to realize, was incredibly beautiful. Not in the way Edwina was. Her younger sister was pretty and angelic, so doe eyed that no one could escape her gaze without adoring her. She was petite and fragile looking, one just wanted to wrap her up and shield her from the outside world. But Kate, she was fierce. One would gladly go outside with her just to see her win every fight. Dark eyes, so intense, you could not look away from without doubting yourself. Few were strong enough to hold her gaze. As she ascended from the stairs, Anthony felt his hands tremble. Somewhere in his mind, he knew she was the sister, but he didn’t want to accept it. He saw enough women for three lifetimes, some more beautiful as her, but he never found someone as attractive as her.

“Hi, Mr. Bridgeton, I am Kate, Edwina’s sister. She just called me to say she’s stuck in traffic and won’t be here for at least an hour. She instructed me to keep you company until she arrives. I hope you haven’t been waiting for long.”

Anthony recovered quickly, but he didn’t know how he managed to. “Hi, please, call me Anthony. Edwina does have a habit of never being on time it seems.”

Kate opened the door and entered, waiting for him. “Yes, we all have our bad habits, don’t we?” she smiled tightly.

He looked at her with eyebrows raised, sensing her dislike. “Can’t say we all do.” He grinned boyishly at her.

“Would you say you’re above human flaws, Anthony?” She drawled out his name as if it were a bad word.

“When I fancy myself a bit more than usual, I do have the tendency to excuse my own faults, but I am aware that I am flawed. Kate.” He added proudly at the end.

She turned her head away to roll her eyes, but he caught the movement. She had an impression of him before she even met him, although he couldn’t say otherwise for him. They seemed to dislike each other more than it was expected or known.

“I’m glad.” She quipped going inside the kitchen.

“That?”

“You’re aware of you flaws.”

“And you?”

“I am also aware of you flaws.”

Anthony choked back a laugh. He found her a bit too sure of her word. It’s true, he wasn’t such a big fan of her, but he didn’t show it as quickly as she did. She beat him.

“I was referring to your own faults, but I’m happy to find such a modest person in my presence.”

Kate bit back a retort and looked at him from head to toe quickly. Anthony Bridgeton was handsome. Not elegantly handsome like other boyfriends Edwina had, all good boys with gelled back hair or early Justin Bieber looks. This one looked like sex on legs and Kate knew that Edwina didn’t like the sex that Anthony usually had.

“You do surround yourself with very nice people.” Kate replied. “Nicer than yourself…” she added under her breath.

Anthony heard her clearly. He advanced towards her and took a seat next to her, closer than she liked. “Do continue. I wish to hear more about your opinions of me.”

She smiled sweetly at him (throwing Anthony off for a second). “I have no clear opinion of you.”

“Just that you don’t like me.”

Kate sighed, knowing she was caught. “Quite right, Mr. Bridgeton.”

“Oh? Have I been degraded to Mr. now?” Anthony didn’t like her, she was already just as meddlesome as he thought her to be, but he just couldn’t escape the need to talk to her. To rile her up. He wouldn’t leave until she was fuming with rage.

“I just know that the end of our conversation will leave us somewhere far away from first name basis.”

Anthony nodded enthusiastically. “Well, if you say so, then it must be the absolute truth, Miss Sheffield.” The sarcasm was as evident as her dislike.

Kate grit her teeth. “I’m so pleased we’ve found something to agree on.”

“And what exactly, may I ask, are the things we do not agree on? I’m sorry I’m behind on this, I usually prefer to come to these conclusions after I’ve met a person.”

“Your intentions towards Edwina.” She came out with it. No need to beat around the bush, it was clear what was happening.

Anthony frowned dramatically and flicked her forehead. Kate looked up from under her eyelashes and bit her lip. Her hand itched to punch him. “I assure you that Edwina is safe in my hands, Miss Sheffield. No need to act like we’re in the 1800s.”

“Your assurance means nothing to me, considering your outstanding past and reputation.” Kate crossed her arms and glared proudly at him. Did he think that would go unnoticed?

Anthony’s eyes dropped down quickly to the motion. He grinned. “Oh, I see we have a Lady Whistledown fan among us. Do you usually believe anything a gossip site writes? That doesn’t seem to be a very trustworthy source of information, Miss Sheffield.”

“Hasn’t been wrong once in the last year. So far, she has guessed all of your future plans and choice of women. And her thoughts seem to match mine. You, Anthony Bridgerton, are looking for a wife and you think you can rope Edwina in marriage.” Kate shrugged and returned her gaze to him. “And I have many other sources that can confirm your doings.”

Well, she wasn’t wrong, Anthony had to admit. She was also smarter than he wished to admit. There was no denying: to marry Edwina, Kate was the ultimate challenge. If he could win her over, and he will, his plans will go along smoothly. “I won’t lie. I do wish to propose soon to Edwina, but I would not rope her into anything.”

Kate looked at him for a moment before she scoffed. She plopped down from her stool and pointed a very menacing finger at him. “Do not think that you will convince me to let you marry Edwina. I will not change my mind regarding you and your actions. You’re thirty and she’s not even twenty yet. Do you not think her a bit too naïve for you?”

“I like a youthful spirit, Miss Sheffield.” He grit his teeth. She’s making him feel old. Edwina may be a bit younger than expected, but he’s in no way using that against her. He actually likes her. Not loves.

“You like a challenge, Mr. Bridgerton, from what I gather. Why do you wish to toy with my sister? I’m sure there are many women desperate enough to marry you, that you don’t have to fool with silly dates and escapades.” Kate was starting to get angrier than she expected. She thought he would be easier to manage.

He got down from his stool. “I repeat. I am not in any way toying with Edwina. She is a lovely girl and it is true, I intend to marry soon, but that does not imply I will force her into anything.”

“Should I even try to believe you?” Kate’s voice began to raise a few octaves. “You’ve been dating for three months? Who says that about a girlfriend? She’s lovely? Is that all you can say? Do you even love her? Or is that something you’re not capable of lying about? Do you have that bit of dignity in you?”

A few veins popped up on Anthony’s neck. He felt the need to wrap his fingers around Kate’s throat and push her into a wall. “Do you really think that highly of yourself, Miss Sheffield? Do you really think you’re that smart? Are you so sure of every word that comes out of your mouth? I _like_ Edwina. I do not love her and I don’t think I ever will. But I like her and I respect her. I will not be an imbecile and treat her miserably. I see you’ve made your impression of me quite rapidly. Should I tell you mine of you? You’re incredibly meddlesome and see no need for you to express yourself so vehemently on your sister’s relationship with a grown man. Or are you just lonely and have no other preoccupations?”

“I love my sister too much to let you do this to her heart. She should not suffer such from your actions.”

“I will not hurt her in any way, I will back off if she says the word.”

“I sure hope so. I’m quite surprised you’ve managed to keep it in your pants this long!” They were screaming now. Loudly.

He leaned in dangerously close. “Maybe you’re just jealous, Kate. Maybe you’re doing this to keep me all to yourself. Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve made a fuss with sisters.”

She flared her nostrils and considered her next move. She looked down for a split second and he knew immediately what was about to happen, but he couldn’t stop it. She stepped on his foot with such force he couldn’t fantom. He hissed and closed his eyes, trying not to scream.

“How do you manage to say things like that and not be disgusted with yourself?”

He couldn’t hold it back. He gripped her arms and pressed her into the wall. Towering over her with five or more inches, Kate tried her best not to feel small. She looked up glaring. “Into violence now, Mr. Bridgerton?”

“I believe you’re the one that started it.” He bit every word, trying to regain calmness.

Kate scowled and looked away, suddenly feeling conscious of the lack of distance between them. Anthony noticed and smirked. He would get under her skin any way he could. He leaned and whispered in her ear. “You will not stand in my way, Kate Sheffield.”

Drawing back, he pressed his nose against hers and could almost feel her lips as he spoke. “Continue your plans if you wish to do so, but, oh, Kate, if you continue to intrigue me so, I do not know what will come of us.”

Kate breathed in desperately and glared powerfully at him. He felt her eyes over him and he knew then, that this would not be over in that moment. “I will see you soon, Mr. Bridgerton.”

She took her bag and left the apartment.

Anthony sighed and sat down. It was already six thirty. He picked up his phone and rang Edwina. Their plans had to be rearranged for another day.

* * *

Coming home, Edwina was surprised to find that neither Anthony, nor Kate were very keen on communicating. Both of them ignored their texts for an hour or two, no doubt to cool off. Thinking for a moment on who to call first, she decided on Kate.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Kate. Did something happen? I thought Anthony could wait a bit more if he had your company, but he was gone, when I arrived,” she said slowly. She loved her sister and considered her probably the smartest woman she knew, but she tended to make impulsive decision and come off too strong to other people. It was always quite a shock to jump from Edwina’s dreamy presence to Kate’s dramatic one.

“Oh, he was gone, you say…” Kate wasn’t surprised, she couldn’t sit still either after the incident. She scoffed silently. He cancelled on her sister? The nerve, he only waited an hour and a half, that was… not perfectly normal, Kate had to admit. “Edwina, I can’t lie, I don’t like him.”

The younger sister already knew that, but was surprised to find that out even after they met. She thought they were somewhat alike, both so feisty and opiniated. “Why, Kate? I thought that, perhaps, after meeting him you’d change your mind.”

“He’s way too old for you, he shouldn’t be looking at girls who just entered university, not to mention his very much public reputation. I bet his sex stories would scare the crap out of you, Edwina.”

“Oh, stop it, he’s very nice with me and he hasn’t done anything wrong in these three months. Surely, he would’ve done a mistake by now,” Edwina replied. Her tone, as always, was calm and nowhere near her sister’s frustration.

Kate opened her mouth to reply, before she closed it. _Nice? Do they really have no other words?_ “Edwina,” she began easily, “I’m not saying this because I don’t like him, but… He’s nice? That’s all you have to say about him? Shouldn’t he ignite a bigger feeling in you? Shouldn’t you be on the verge of love?”

A few minutes later, the phone call ended and Edwina texted Anthony an apology. Later she couldn’t escape the feeling that maybe this wasn’t love, just as Kate said.


	2. Trapped

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kate and Anthony meet at work.

The next morning, Anthony went to work, hoping that he could forget all about Kate Sheffield and concentrate. He walked to his office and spent his time there for three more hours before deciding to go to the small kitchen and start his lunch.

Imagine his surprise when he went there and found Kate Sheffield eating and laughing with the other associates and partners. Including his best friend, Simon.

He managed to hide behind a wall before he was seen. He texted Simon to come outside and just a few seconds later he was met with Simon Basset.

“What is the matter?” He was smiling, while sipping on his coke.

Anthony wasn’t as relaxed as him. “Do you know her?” he whispered in desperation. He could feel his blood boiling.

“Which her, Anthony?”

“Kate Sheffield!” He spit out. He feared that just saying her name would summon her.

“She’s been working here for the last six months. She is quite popular among us you know.”

His world crashed around him. Is this what he had to endure?

Anthony could barely breathe. This was not the day he imagined. “Oh, is she? What is she like?”

Simon looked back for a second and said, “Possibly the smartest person around here. I think she’ll be the next junior partner.”

Anthony choked. “Fuck.”

“Why do you ask?”

“She’s the sister.”

Simon laughed. “Well, she fits the description.”

“Yeah, well, she has an entirely new description after the talk we’ve had yesterday.”

“Oh? What was the outcome?”

“I’m surprised we didn’t kill each other. She accused me of playing her sister.” He replied.

The other man pondered. “And what did you say?”

“I told her she wants to fuck me and doesn’t know how to get to me.”

Simon sighed loudly and rubbed his neck. “Do you honestly believe that every woman wants to jump your bones?”

Anthony grimaced. “Obviously not, but she knew so much about me, that was the first thing I thought of!”

“Well, that’s better, I suppose.”

Suddenly Anthony grinned. He was much more confident now and he could just tell he had Kate Sheffield in his hands. Placing his hands in his pockets, he entered the kitchen.

It was mostly empty now with just Kate and two other people inside. Looking up from her food, she spotted Anthony, who was walking towards her. She scowled, but did not seem surprised.

The man grinned charmingly and sat down in front of her. “Well, Miss Sheffield, when you said we’ll be seeing each other soon, I did not know that I would have the pleasure quite _so_ soon.”

Kate swallowed the last of her food and crossed her legs before speaking. “It was indeed my wish to surprise you, Mr. Bridgerton.”

Anthony chuckled and ran a hand through his hair. “Yes, it seems you live to amuse me.” Kate tried to bring her face to a smile. Tried. “Last time we recruited associates, I was not available for interviews, therefore I did not know of your massive contributions to our law firm. Do you know that Basset said you will most likely be the next junior partner?”

Kate was taken by surprise with that sentence. Simon Basset was a very good lawyer and for him to say that about her… It meant a great deal to her. “He is very kind to say that.” She replied shortly.

Leaning back on his chair, Anthony smirked. With his sleeves rolled up and his shirt slightly opened, he looked like divine. Kate didn’t blame Edwina for her choice.

“I was very surprised, when he said that. Do you know why, Kate?”

She tried to ignore the way he gave up on her surname. “Why?”

Anthony beamed as he said, “Well, I am the one who chooses all the junior partners.”

Kate’s jaw dropped. No way. The one thing standing between her and her dreams was the damned creature. Why couldn’t she have kept her mouth shut? Why did she have to sabotage herself so?

“No,” she whispered.

Anthony grinned harder. He was afraid his face would burst. “Oh, yes. I suppose you thought that decision would go to my mother, but she decided to fully retire this year and well, here we are. Surely you must’ve known I was in charge of the firm, when you applied.”

Kate gulped down her coffee and stared at him. “I did.”

“I’m _so_ glad!” Anthony felt like a villain, but he couldn’t help himself. It was fun torturing her.

“Mr. Bridgerton, you’re a professional boss. Surely you wouldn’t let your private life get in the way of your work?” She meant to say that as an affirmation, but it came out as a question.

Anthony laughed and got up. “I suppose we’ll see, won’t we?” He left after that.

The truth was she was right. He wouldn’t do such a thing, but he had to keep her on her toes.

* * *

From that moment on, Kate and Anthony’s paths seemed to cross a lot more. Kate’s talent was spotted by other partners and she began to speed up through the ranks. Anthony, managing the firm and other cases at the same time, couldn’t help but bump into her. Sometimes more physically than one wanted.

The first incident in the copying room, when Kate was obediently printing out dozens of papers, pretending she had the patience. She was leaning on the wall, swiping through her phone, checking Lady Whistledown and others. She looked back at the printing machine, checking how many pages were left. _173\. Great._

Much to her surprise and unhappiness, Anthony walked in. He was holding a subpoena in his hands and was biting on a pen. His brows were furrowed, no doubt from working on the respective case.

He stopped in his tracks when he saw her and noticed the working machine. “What case is that?”

Kate had half a mind to ignore him, but he was her boss and damned good lawyer, some would say. Not her, she didn’t want to associate the word ‘good’ with him no matter the context. “The Marshall case.”

Anthony breathed in and pinched his nose, before deciding that he shouldn’t hold back his short-lived anger. “I was supposed to get those papers an hour ago.”

“No one told me that it was your case,” she said confused. “And I didn’t know we were in a hurry.” She was appalled that she had to work with him. Couldn’t fate wait a little bit longer?

“No matter the case, you should carry out the task the moment you get it. And I have a secretary, you’re supposed to talk to her, for fuck’s sake. And why am I the one filing out a subpoena?” Anthony said glaring at her. He expected professionalism no matter their recent talk.

“I’ll put them on your desk and fill out the subpoena,” Kate replied seething. She had no way of knowing who the papers were for when they just showed up unannounced on her desk.

Anthony pointed a finger at her and smirked. “No need to bring the papers. Why don’t you go over the contract? You’ll be working overtime this evening, Kate.”

He waved his fingers in salute, before opening the door. “Make yourself some coffee,” he said as he left.

_Fucking arsehole,_ Kate’s thoughts carried many atrocities.

The second incident was in the law’s firm previously mentioned kitchen.

Kate was running on two hours of sleep. She had to take the documents home and finish them there. She took a short break to walk Newton, her corgi, at two a.m. considering that she didn’t walk him that day, she didn’t want to wake up with surprises around her apartment. Although the number of frights she got from walking her dog at night was not embraced.

She was sitting at the table, going over the papers again. Seeing as they were intended to be on Anthony’s desk, she couldn’t present something lower than perfect. A few more minutes, she presented herself satisfied and she got up from the table, coffee in one hand and papers in the other.

Imagine her luck when she bumped into Anthony, spilling the coffee on her, the documents and him. He stopped dead in his tracks, shocked by the sudden waterfall (coffeefall some might say, but it’s not the time for jokes). He raised his head slowly and meeting her eyes, he squinted in anger before noticing the documents. Then he smirked.

“Well, lovely Kate, that is quite a hello. I suppose you’re quite tired after the task I gave you. Although, I didn’t expect this, I can go and change my shirt. But you can’t change the documents, can’t you?” he said, greedily awaiting a reaction.

Kate sighed. “I’m sorry for your shirt. I’ll try to bring the papers as soon as possible,” she said through her teeth next, biting back the fury. Couldn’t he at least be considerate now, knowing what she went through?

“That’s the spirit!” He cheered loudly for her before heading out. “And don’t forget to call Edwina, she wanted to hear what you thought about that new book.”

She turned around. “I’ll make sure my coffee catches more of your brave mouth next, Mr. Bridgerton!”

He laughed. “You just try, Kate!”

The third incident presented itself three days later.

Anthony was finally going home. Crossing the floor, he noticed one of the cubicles was still occupied. Stepping closer, he saw Kate staring at a document as if she willed it to speak. The conversation was pretty one-sided.

He took pity on her. “What are you doing here? It’s ten.”

“Working,” she spat out.

He sighed and dropped his jacket on one of the chairs. “On what, you stubborn menace?” He was preparing to help her, look at him. Simon would be proud. Anthony didn’t forget his role as a senior in the firm and he was going to be as much help to anyone if he had the power. He didn’t feel bad about the last task he gave her. Everybody suffers and everybody works too much, when they’re an associate.

Kate yielded. “I’m supposed to find three things that the other lawyer missed when he made this contract thirteen years ago. One about the changing of board members and two about the dismissal of workers.”

Anthony grabbed the papers from her grasp and analyzed the first lines. “Well, it should be easy.”

She almost growled at him. “Is it?”

“Everybody misses something, when it’s about firing someone. Something worth a few tears always gets in the way and contradicts the contracts, a small loop hole leads you to the pit of mistakes one does when making a contract. I always say too many people declare themselves apt for making such a thing.”

He began scouring for information.

Kate cleared her throat and watched him in silence. She was taken by surprise by his desire to help her. Maybe he’s not such a bad boss. In terms of humanity, he still ranked pretty low. Disturbingly low.

“Have you ever made a contract, Mr. Bridgerton?”

He answered slowly, still reading. “I have, but never one as sloppy as this one.”

Kate scowled. It wasn’t so sloppy when _she_ wanted to find its mistakes.

Anthony stopped reading and placed the papers back on her desk. He pointed at a paragraph. “Look, here. You highlighted all the singular stuff, the suspicious one, but you’re missing the point. Don’t look at it the same way twice. You have to see it from all angles, all perspectives, not just from yours. Stop thinking so much and let your instincts jump sometimes. You have them, it doesn’t hurt to let them free sometimes.”

He also didn’t mention that she approached the other documents the same way and he had to redo them for two hours. Her work was good, she wasn’t sloppy, but some cases require more experience than thinking.

She listened curiously, trying to find a real insult in what he said, but, with regret, she saw that he was only trying to help her. She looked at the paper again and understood him. In a few seconds she found the loophole. How didn’t she see it from the beginning? She looked like she found the cure to cancer.

Laughing, Anthony took his finger from the paper and pushed his hair back, looking at her again. Unknowingly he smiled. She looked cute, but he was never going to admit it. Not even to himself.

“Thank you.” Kate’s voice was raspy and the sleep was evident, but the joy was also there.

“You’re welcome. Let’s go home now, it’s too late for both of us,” he said getting up from his seat on the desk.

Kate’s brows furrowed. “Oh, no, I have to have this ready by tomorrow, I’ll stay a bit more, thank you.”

“Whose case is it?”

“Featherington’s.”

“I’ll talk to him and extend your deadline to noon. Now, come on. I already made you lose sleep, I’m enough for one week.”

Anthony was looking at her expectantly. She was awe struck for a moment, that he displayed this side of him to her, when they both knew their feelings didn’t resonate.

“Thank you.”

“Well, now, don’t thank me twice in one night, I’ll start getting ideas that we’re friends,” he replied.

“You still have no place next to Edwina,” she said, but there was no power in her voice.

“We’ll fight tomorrow if you want so bad, but, for now, let’s leave, you menace.”

The last incident found them in his office. Kate was now assigned to one of Simon’s cases and was dutifully following around the firm. He spoke to her a lot and showed her a lot of things, but the man couldn’t sit still in his office. He said if he sat for too long, he would start texting his wife and he couldn’t start slacking off now. Kate found it endearing. She was sure Anthony didn’t spend his time texting Edwina.

Simon’s pacing ended in Anthony’s office. The two of them chatted and Kate remained in the back, awkwardly waiting for something to do. Anthony was half listening to Simon’s ranting and half watching her. She was intriguing even in this state, when she wasn’t annoying him.

At some point, Simon took pity on her and called on her. “Kate?”

“Yes?”

“How did you do on Featherington’s case from last week?”

Her face showed a mix of excitement and disappointment. “He’s speaking with the judge now. We’ve been waiting for an answer all week, hopefully, today we’ll get it.”

Anthony asked from his spot at the desk surprised, “He didn’t take you with him?”

Kate shook her head, her obvious disappointment coming from her presence here and not there to see her work put into action. “No.”

Simon grunted in displeasure. “It seems that some still believe that every person with the title ‘associate’ is a nuisance that shouldn’t be taken into court. How else do they expect to make good lawyers?”

“They usually are a nuisance, company excluded,” Anthony smiled sarcastically at her and she in return, “but you’re right. They are becoming lazier with their teaching.”

“Your mother wouldn’t have done that, if she were here,” Simon replied wishfully, sinking into a chair and pointing at Kate to do the same. She wondered how many associates get to do that.

“My mother would have adopted every associated and made this family even bigger than it already bloody is. I don’t know what I’ll do when everyone is married and with children.”

“I hope our memories will serve us well.”

Anthony laughed. “We’ll see about that.”

At that moment, a blonde girl came through the doors, stepping as light as a feather, stopping in front of the desk. “Kate, Anthony, hello,” Edwina said warmly.

Kate got up from her seat to hug her sister, but intercepted Anthony, who was going to kiss her on the cheek. They both glared at each other and hurried their step. Kate got there first.

She hugged her sister tightly after not hearing from each other for the last three days. It was an unusual amount for the two of them. After she let her go, Anthony sneaked in and kissed Edwina on the cheek.

“How are you?” he asked.

“Oh, I’m fine, I was in the area and I knew Kate’s lunch break was coming up. I’m surprised to see the two of you together, I didn’t know you worked on the same cases,” she added the last part after a short pause, remembering Kate’s thoughts on her relationship.

“We don’t actually, but Simon forced me to come here,” she said quickly.

Simon laughed from his spot on the sofa. “I think better when I talk and I took Kate with me to be present and hear my thoughts on the case so we can work together. If she’d like, I can leave her at her desk and just dump work on it.”

Kate turned and waved her hands in an attempt to physically erase the words she said. “No, no, so foolish of me to say that, I must’ve been possessed. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your kindness, sir.”

“Dramatic,” he replied chuckling.

Anthony mumbled under his breath, “You don’t say.” Both sisters heard him and both glared at him. He finally saw the family resemblance in that split second. “Well, yeah, we’re on our lunch break now. Want to eat somewhere?”

“With me?” Kate added sweetly batting her eyelashes.

“Or just with me? You know, your boyfriend?” Anthony said glaring now at her.

The older sister shrugged as she said, “You know, Winnie, boyfriends pass over time and you make new ones, but your sister will be here for the rest of your life.”

Anthony breathed in loudly besides her. “She may be right, but what will your poor sister do without a job? I heard her boss can be quite strict.”

“ _My_ boss can fire me, but there are many more law firms on Earth.”

“ _Your_ boss knows all of England’s law firms and can make sure you never get a job interview again.”

Kate seethed. “I’m sorry, Winnie.” And then she stomped with her full force on Anthony’s shoe.

Simon howled with laughter from the sofa upon seeing the incident, Edwina joining him a second later. Kate was fighting a smile, ready for Anthony’s comeback.

He kept himself from making a sound and straightened his back, running a hand through his hair. Suddenly Kate felt hotter than she should’ve. “Starting next week, you’re on Featherington’s cases.”

She gasped and stomped her foot in frustration. “Are you serious?”

“As serious as the injuries you’re giving my feet,” he said.

Edwina asked, a bit scared of Kate’s force, “Injuries? As in plural?”

“He’s exaggerating.”

“Am not.”

Kate opened her mouth to respond, before she got a message. Looking down at the text, she jumped up and down from excitement. “We won! I won! Oh my god, we won…” she said loudly.

“Featherington’s case?” Simon asked.

“Yes! We won!” Kate squealed.

Anthony went next to her and looked at the attached photo. “Oh my god, you destroyed them. They’re going to be pissed, when they see this at the law firm.”

She looked at him almost adoringly. “You know the law firm?”

He nodded enthusiastically. “Oh, yeah, Berbrooke Law Firm. They’re a bunch of creeps, who barely got out of law school. Daphne punched one of the lawyers there.”

“Oh my, this is possibly the best thing I’ve ever heard come out your mouth, congrats,” Kate replied. For once, sarcasm wasn’t present.

He laughed and nudged her shoulder. “Don’t get your hopes up.”

Edwina suddenly felt small in the large room looking at the two of them. Kate’s words from their phone call submerged from her memories and started to take root in her. If it weren’t for Anthony’s next words, she would have broken up with Anthony the next day.

“Oh, I wanted to ask you this yesterday actually but I forgot. Do you want to come with my family and me at Aubrey Hall for Christmas Week? My mother has been begging to meet you for the last month and I can’t hide you any longer,” he said. He also wanted to see if his family liked her enough for a proposal, but that’s another thing.

Edwina smiled. “Christmas Week?”

Anthony laughed and rubbed his neck. “Oh, yeah, from Christmas Eve until January 1st, that’s what we call it.”

“Oh, I don’t know, I usually spend it with Mum and Kate and I don’t want to leave them alone for the holidays,” she replied, actually feeling sorry.

Kate was observing this conversation from her spot next to her sister and was mentally cheering. Of course, she wants to spend Christmas with her family and not this git. _Smart girl_ , no less expected of her.

The eldest and smartest (debatable) Bridgerton child, to this day, doesn’t know how the words came out of his mouth. “They can come as well.”

Kate’s mouth dropped. Simon had a similar horrified expression.

“Are you sure? We don’t want to impose and I’m sure…” Edwina started to say.

“The house is gigantic and the more the merrier. We would be delighted if your family could join you,” Anthony didn’t know his drama skills were this incredible, really, he should’ve spent more time in plays at school.

“I have to bring my dog!” Kate said quickly. Damn it, Edwina, please, don’t accept.

“We have a big garden, he can play there as much as he wants,” Anthony said faster.

“He sleeps in my bed,” she replied faster.

“If you so please, no problem for us,” he said loudly, ending the conversation. He turned his head to Edwina and smiled charmingly. “Please?”

Kate huffed.

“All right then, I’m sure Mum would be delighted.”

“Oh, fucking hell,” Kate said as she left the room.

The holidays destroyed by Anthony Bridgerton.

* * *

One fateful night, Cressida paid a visit to the Bridgertons Law Firm. Kate could barely describe the hatred she had for that girl. She bullied Edwina in school before Kate found out. She couldn’t forget her face even if she tried to. She couldn’t forget the milkshake she threw in her face either. Probably one of Kate’s best moments.

Anthony, Kate and Simon were the last ones at the firm. They were looking over a pro bono case that arrived through one of the secretaries on the fifth floor. Of course, there was no hesitation in accepting the case.

As usual there was a conflict of opinions.

Kate was pacing around Anthony’s office. She took of her heels hours ago and was encircling the desk, each time picking something up. A pen, a book, a tissue.

“Must you pace so vehemently around the room? Can’t you sit down?” Anthony almost growled from the sofa. He got used to her presence, but not to her energy.

“I find that I think better when I walk, Mr. Bridgerton,” came Kate’s fast reply.

Anthony smiled at her. “I thought we were past the surnames. Us being future in laws and all that.”

The pencil in Kate’s hand broke in half. “Future inmates most likely.”

Simon chuckled from his spot. Would it be wrong to leave now and go home to Daphne?

“Do you wish to see me in handcuffs, Kate? You only have to say, no need to go so far.” Anthony grinned harder at her. He was enjoying her. Enjoying this, not her.

“I also wish to see you strangled, but I don’t see you making efforts on that,” she replied easily. She wasn’t taking him seriously anymore.

“I usually do the choking.”

“Preferably after the case, I don’t think the client would appreciate.”

Anthony chuckled. “Yes, I think so too.” He got up from the sofa and walked towards the desk. “I say we present the document and see how they react.”

“Why don’t we call the mother to testify? We could get a reaction out of her,” Kate said.

“She’s too unpredictable. If she changes her testimony and gives off the wrong impression, we’re doomed.”

“Maybe, but it’s worth a try.”

“Why would you risk it, when we have a safe chance with the contract?” Anthony’s brows furrowed.

“It’s a document in a pro bono case, they want to see human reactions, not a paper, that could very well be fabricated, considering the client’s history.”

Simon was actually surprised. They weren’t arguing and raising their voices like before. They were presenting their arguments calmly.

“Oh, have some faith,” Anthony said as he sat down on his chair.

Kate sighed from her new spot on the sofa. “You’re the one without faith. We could very well use the mother and just prepare something in case something goes south.”

Simon got out his phone and began texting Daphne.

_What did Anthony say about his new girlfriend?_

A text came back two seconds later. _She’s pretty, young and likeable. Why?_

That’s all he said about his girlfriend of three months? _Think he made a mistake. Tell you at home._

“You’re so keen on bringing a variable into this, when you know very well it could go wrong.” Anthony couldn’t believe he was saying this.

Kate closed her eyes. “The prosecutor is a piece of shit, Anthony, he’s going to risk it a lot more than us.”

They both ignored the forgotten Mr. Bridgerton. It seemed awkward now to refer to each other as anything else.

“Let’s go home, we’ll do more tomorrow.”

“Oh, thank God,” Simon said opening his eyes and putting on his jacket. “Good night.” And he left the next second.

Kate giggled and put on her heels. Anthony was watching her from behind the desk and he couldn’t believe his heart. In the last few days, he barely talked to Edwina, but thought of new ways to terrorize Kate. He didn’t change his plans, but he was inclined to see the older sister in a different light. Much different than he thought.

He didn’t want to admit that he was slowly losing interest in Edwina. He became even more preoccupied with work and he didn’t feel the pressure of marrying as hard as before. He was sure his mother would soon change that, seeing as Christmas was approaching, but he couldn’t help it. He felt alright with or without a girlfriend. Of course, he wasn’t going to break up with Edwina, his plan still stood, but the hurry wasn’t as big.

Kate was warming up to Anthony, she could feel it. She wasn’t as mad every time he entered a room, but she didn’t change her mind regarding her little sister. Her fragile little sister, who never knew real loss. And if Kate had anything to say about it, Edwina will never know it. Kate wasn’t keen on letting anything more happen between them, but she liked working with him. Well, tolerated. He had weird thoughts when he worked.

The two of them were getting ready to leave his office, when Cressida walked in. Kate looked at the clock and wondered what she was doing there at 10 o’clock, seeing as her office wasn’t anywhere near the law firm. The blonde looked at them and smirked devilishly. She crossed her ankles and took out her phone, dangling it between her fingers.

“Oh! What a surprise to see the two of you here alone! Just you two as well…” she said.

Kate and Anthony eyed her with…disgust, to be honest. Kate thought about ignoring her and heading to the elevator, but Anthony spoke up. “What are you doing here, Cressida?”

“Just popping by, you know.”

“I obviously don’t if I’m asking you.” He was starting to get annoyed already, Kate could tell as she was usually the source of the annoyance, but it was refreshing to see a change.

Cressida giggled, in her head, attractively. She stepped closer to them and turned on her phone. “Well, I heard you were here, Anthony, and I wanted to see you. Quite the surprise to see you here with this one.”

“ _This one_ will leave you bald soon if you don’t get to the point,” Kate said.

“Just wanted to see what Anthony was doing with you here late at night, considering you’re Edwina’s sister. And she’s, you know, his girlfriend,” Cressida replied, saying every word carefully like she was saying a poem. Quite bad one at that.

Anthony cleared his throat. “Well, we were leaving after a hard day of work, actual work, not spying on others. If you’re all done, we’re leaving.” He took a step forward, but she grabbed his hand stopping him.

“You mean to say that you spent all this time here working, Anthony?” Cressida asked full of wonder.

He grumbled and took his hand back. “It’s ten o’clock, not three in the morning, stop making such a fuss. We’re all leaving.”

With that, Anthony and Kate headed towards the elevator. Soon followed the sound of a camera and a flash as Cressida took a photo.

“This is going straight to Whistledown,” she said proudly like she was waiting to be congratulated.

Kate rolled her eyes and pushed the elevator down. “The next time I see you, Cressida, I’ll make you relieve college. Just remember how that milkshake tasted for now.”

The two of them entered the elevator and watched as the blonde became barely a spot.

The silence was somewhat uncomfortable, but expected. Anthony was thinking of ways to ask what happened with the mentioned milkshake. He had to admit he liked seeing her angry at somebody else other than him. It was a disappointment that the encounter lasted only so little, he hadn’t seen a true catfight since Eloise and Francesca fought at Christmas.

Kate was trying very hard not to laugh. She blamed in on the lack of sleep and on the lack of rationality for beginning to tolerate Anthony. Maybe even like. Separately from her sister, obviously. She found a lot of men were better unassociated with Edwina. Cressida’s appearance was just another incredible event in the last weeks and Kate was slowly getting used to constant scandal. Especially knowing she will most likely appear on the infamous twitter account soon.

And then she couldn’t hold it in. She started howling with laughter, unable to hold herself up, she crashed to the floor of the elevator.

Anthony looked at her quite shocked, one would say. A confused smile was slowly breaking onto his face seeing her in such a state, although he tried to fight it. “You’re not right in the head,” he said slowly, “What are you laughing at?”

Kate howled again and began to wipe the tears from her face. “I just,” she breathed in, trying to calm herself down, “felt like it.”

“You just felt like laughing and crashed to the floor?”

She slowly pulled herself up from the floor. The tears of mascara were running down her cheeks even now and her eyes looked absolutely ecstatic. In the low dimmed elevator, the two were trapped in each other’s presences and couldn’t help but take each other in. Both of them, messy and disheveled from the late hours and Kate from the laughing, felt like corrupted magnets. Slowly pulling each other in, but resisting it. Smiling Anthony looked younger than he was, and with his undone shirt and messy hair, Kate was suddenly struck by the thought that this was how he probably looked after a night in a woman’s bed. A pang of jealousy hit her, but she pushed it somewhere far away, where even her heart couldn’t reach it. Anthony stilled in his stance, his smile slowly becoming even more confused as to how he could feel this frantic and desperate just by looking at this woman, who was supposedly ruining his plans. Edwina, sweet as she was, didn’t get a rise out of him in any way. They were always fine, never more. In that moment, Anthony started to understand that he would soon yield and break it off with Edwina.

Kate cleared her throat, breaking the sudden ice. “Cressida used to bully Edwina and this just brought back memories. Probably the lack of sleep, as well.”

“We all need a good laugh every now and then, I suppose. You’re still an absolute menace, but given the hour, I’ll let this one pass,” he said, choking back a laugh.

“Oh, thank you so much, I appreciate your forgiving mood for the night.” The sarcasm dripped down her words and landed with a splash somewhere on the first floor.

The elevator doors opened. “Let’s hope Lady Whistledown is as forgiving as me,” he said lightly.

“Most likely not. Good night,” she said and departed.

He bid her good night and parted ways.

Suddenly she turned around and pleaded, “Does that mean you’ll take me off Featherington’s case?”

“Nope!”

Kate groaned, but hid the forming smile on her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!!  
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter. 5k whoops that's long, sorry. More dialogue now and less descriptions. I'm trying to make it as natural as possible the transition from enemies to slightly friendlier enemies and not rush anything. If we were further in the story, I'd have them make out in the elevator, but, oh well.  
> What do you think about Edwina and Anthony's relationship? I'm trying to make them distance themselves from each other.  
> Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon, but it's not going to be as long as this one fortunately:))))


	3. Light and Heat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How can you be sure you're in love?

> _Make no mistake, dear reader, I get my information from every place there is. This time, one of you has decided to come to my aid and bring even more to the table. The name shall remain anonymous, but I give my thanks to the person regardless._
> 
> _It seems that Anthony Bridgerton isn’t past his playboy life. Just last night, he was caught at very late hour in his office with no other than his girlfriend’s sister, Kate Sheffield. Phew, imagine the conversations at home. There are other sources that say that the two are just colleagues, but wouldn’t be this a great start for a new office romance? Edwina Sheffield, the girlfriend in question, does seem a bit young for our eldest Bridgerton, but her sister is perfect for the part of making Anthony a work from home daddy. Do we have a new forbidden love? We haven’t gotten anything as interesting since Daphne and Simon’s wedding, so we will take anything we get._
> 
> _However, we shouldn’t forget the holidays are coming up and the Christmas Week at the Bridgertons is always something one must look forward too._
> 
> _A happy December,_
> 
> _Lady Whistledown_

* * *

Kate Sheffield wasn’t a calm woman, she had to admit. She liked to get her emotions across as clearly as she felt them, why should she hide? Oh well, she had reasons to be discreet, but she didn’t always acknowledge them. She had to acknowledge the consequences. On top of all these astounding qualities, she prided herself with her ability to not take herself seriously. Live in the moment and all that, you know.

On the other hand, Anthony Bridgerton’s life couldn’t be more serious. It was a trait he had to have, according to his Mother and him, when his younger siblings were so full of laughter. For a while, Anthony was full of _don’t do that; no, be careful; do your homework; eat your dinner;_ before he took a breather and realized that their worlds wouldn’t crush around them if Anthony wasn’t so bossy. But now, with the firm completely in his hands, he can’t help but return to that side of him sometimes. It was hard for him to imagine not being in control.

After the encounter with Cressida, the new Lady Whistledown gossip was posted at exactly twenty-three minutes past nine in the morning, the exact time when Simon, Anthony and Kate were huddled in his office looking at antecedents for the pro-bono case.

Anthony was seated at his desk, reading, when the notification popped up on his desktop. A loud ding told Kate what the news was about. She rose from her seat and came beside him to see.

He looked up amused. “Don’t you have work?”

“Fire me,” she said.

He scoffed in disbelief she was so sure of herself, but clicked on the website anyway and opened the twitter account.

A few minutes of silence ensued. Simon was starting to feel uncomfortable and came over to them to see what was going on, when the chaos began.

“ _Work from home daddy?!_ ”

“ _Forbidden love?!_ ”

“Oh, this is incredible, this is how I show up for the first time on Lady Whistledown and she parades me as a new pathetic, desperate girlfriend of yours? Don’t I deserve a better association than with you?” Kate whined from her spot.

Anthony looked at her once again in disbelief. “Yes, Kate, do go on, how horrible is it to be in my presence not only here, at work, _where I am your boss_ , but also online?”

“It’s atrocious!”

Simon laughed, but stifled any more sounds as Kate continued to rant.

“Couldn’t I be given something more? I’m a lawyer at one of the best firms in London and I am just one of the playboy’s girls!”

“Should I thank you and insult you in the same sentence?” he intervened, but didn’t get to continue.

“And poor Edwina! She is also associated with you. But at least I know you won’t cheat on her as I am here to break you bones if that happens, but still. Well, she has already been in this situation as Lady Whistledown has tweeted about you before.”

Anthony growled. Was he still really that horrible? “Continue, please, we can discuss this more at Christmas. Which we’re spending together, may I add.”

Kate stilled in her spot and he thought that maybe she would take back her words, but no. That was too much even for her. “Oh my God, I have to buy you gifts. What am I going to do?”

“Oh.” He stopped for a second before he waived his hand in dismissal. “No need, we’re already spoiled and rich.”

She scoffed and dropped to the couch. “You’re not the problem, you git. Your siblings! I don’t know them at all.”

“Don’t get them anything them,” he said and returned to his documents.

Simon went back to the sofa and did the same.

“I can’t, I’m a guest. Tell me something about them.”

“Leave it, Kate.”

“Tell me.”

“No.”

“I’ll chat shit about you to your family.”

“They’re my family, they know more shit about me than you do.”

“I’ll make stuff up.”

“I will fire you.”

“I will sue you for wrongful termination.”

“Seeing as you’re still an associate and I had to help you with your task, I’m not too scared about that.”

“I will give Whistledown wrong information about you.”

“She’s no that dumb, fortunately. Others have tried before.”

Kate nodded to herself and got up. “Well, then, why don’t I convince Edwina to break up with you now? You know I can. How bad is it going to be when you show up alone with no girlfriend, because you pissed off her sister?”

She was the devil, she really was. Anthony’s mind was filled with dark thoughts of pushing her up against the wall and doing things to her. He was even more horrified to realize that he was actually thinking about.

“I. Will. Strangle. You. To. Death.”

“That is so sad, poor me. But I am pretty sure Edwina will break up with you anyway if you plot to kill me, don’t you think?”

“You little…”

Anthony’s profanities were promptly cut off by Simon’s next calm words. “Okay, stop it, you are both annoying. Anthony, I can’t believe you are thirty, you are the exact image of a preschooler. Kate, stop it, I will tell you about the Bridgerton siblings and you can buy them all the gifts you want. Let’s go.”

Simon got up from the sofa and pulled Kate by her arm through the door, ending the discussion. In all diplomacy and seriousness, she turned around and she stuck her tongue out at Anthony. Making sure he wasn’t seen he flipped her the iconic bird. She was indeed quite shocked and made a note to tell her sister about that.

* * *

Edwina was almost done with her studies, when Anthony’s name showed up on her phone. It was almost six thirty, meaning he should be done with work. She wondered if Kate was done as well, so she could leave.

“Hi, Anthony. How was work?”

His voice immediately carried through his speakers. Edwina felt guilty as she listened to him. Today she listened to the girls in her class gush about their boyfriends. All of them talked about the dozens of butterflies in their stomach, about the rush of being in their arms, about this insatiable hunger to be with them. Edwina wasn’t dumb, she knew that most of them won’t end up married to these guys, but it still felt right to live so much in the moment and feel love like this. Of course, Anthony was a good boyfriend, but was he a boyfriend? He seemed to be more of a friend now and Edwina couldn’t help but feel that this feeling wouldn’t go away as much as she tried to envision him in a different light. His voice didn’t spark up thoughts in her head about their next meeting. She didn’t spend her free time, thinking about him. She doesn’t know if she should.

“It was alright, the usual: Kate cursing me out and me being the perfect gentleman.”

Edwina let out a soft chuckle. “I’m sure you two will kill each other very soon, if I don’t intervene.”

“That will most likely happen as we are all going to spend the next week in the same house.”

“Yes, we are in for a very big show.”

“A shitshow, more likely,” he said lightly. “I understood your mother has already left for Aubrey Hall?”

Edwina suddenly remembered and replied, “Oh, yes, I forgot to tell you, I’m so sorry. She somehow got hold of your mother’s number and they started talking and she decided to take a train and leave earlier.”

“I thought she would’ve come with us and she wouldn’t have to have endured the ride of a train.”

“You are quite spoiled, Anthony, the train isn’t bad,” Edwina scolded.

“Compared to my car, it is,” he mumbled. “So, I’m coming to pick you up at your apartment at nine. Is that okay?”

She began to close her books and silently arrange her bag. “Oh, no, I’m sleeping at Kate’s tonight. I’ll text you the address, it’s not far from here, and you can pick us up from there.”

Anthony almost cursed remembering that meddlesome menace. He was never going to escape her. He thought that maybe during the car ride, he would have the chance to catch up with Edwina and see what was coming from this relationship. His doubts were already starting to grow faster than before.

He cleared his throat. “You said she has a dog?”

“Oh, yeah, Newton.”

“Great, so that creature will sit in my precious car.” Even though Kate wasn’t there, she was already making things go wrong.

“He’s not so bad, you just have to get him to like you.”

“Well, he is a dog, I assume he has very high standards,” he replied lightly.

She giggled. “He does.”

“Okay, text me the address and I’ll be there at nine.”

“I will. Bye, Anthony.”

“Bye, Edwina.”

* * *

Kate arrived home at seven and just ten minutes later, her sister appeared. Most of their time was spent packing and catching upon the latest gossip from work or university.

If one were here, one could notice the striking resemblances and differences between the two sisters.

Edwina was small, petite and lithe, her straight blonde hair cut just above her breasts raising almost as a halo above her. She was aware of her image and she didn’t intent to change it, even if sometimes he wanted to be like her older sister. Edwina was protected and she knew it. Her mother and sister made sure that her delicate way of being was never affected and she was thankful for that. However, she didn’t like it that Kate felt the need to swallow all the bad things about her just so Edwina could breathe easier. Lost in her philosophies and dreams, the world felt lighter around Edwina every time her sister walked in the room. Her sister, somewhere between her idol and her whole world.

Standing in Edwina’s gold shimmering light, Kate was a dark flame, a drop of crimson blood. She was tall, muscular and stepped with confidence in every room. She filled it with her emotions, she was present in every corner of the room, between every person trying to not look at her. While everyone around Edwina was enamored with her and her dreamy presence, opting to approach her, when the result was always known. She would be sweet and even if she didn’t like you, nothing bad would happen. But with Kate. Kate owned the room; she knew when someone was watching her and knew she would win if anyone tried to overthrow her. She was raging with emotions, so full of life, of ideas, of words, of ambitions, of so many things that could explode in your face or could light up the whole world and turn into a million pieces of her soul. But who could manage such a thing? Who had the nerve to step up to her, when there were so many possibilities to be second place? Not many, perhaps almost no one, had the courage to be with her, when they knew she would shine brighter. Were you willing to burn out for her flame?

Edwina was the light, but Kate was the heat.

Sometimes Edwina wanted to be menacing and sometimes Kate wanted to be soft, but they both loved each other too much to have room for jealousy. And so, together as one big fire, they worked in unison.

The younger looked at the elder and sat down gently on the sofa. “Kate?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t make fun of me, but I don’t know how else to express this.”

“I thought the whole role of an English major was to always have words, but go on,” Kate replied, coming from the bathroom with a bag of makeup, and settling down next to her.

“Have you ever been in love?”

Kate pouted at her the second she heard the question and ran a hand through her blonde hair. “I have, but I’m not sure that I have been to the fullest. Some boys made me feel fun and light, others made me feel calm, like I was always safe and away from worries. But I don’t think that any of those were the love of my life. I’m not even sure I’ll ever meet the love of my life, but I know that this whole chapter has a lot more in store for me. And especially for you.”

Edwina sighed loudly and planted her head in Kate’s lap. “I don’t know, Kate, Anthony’s perfect. He is smart, funny, treats me better than any other boys have before and he is not that much older, but what am I supposed to feel? Is the world going to start singing around me, when I see him next time?”

A small smile spread on Kate’s face. She wasn’t mean, she wasn’t enjoying her sister’s doubts about Anthony, even if she didn’t agree with his spot as boyfriend. “Oh, Winnie, it’s not even a feeling or a thought, it’s just something that someday clicks. You can be fine one day and madly in love the next day, it’s not planned, you can’t foresee it.”

“You have become quite the romantic, you know.”

“That bloody book I’ve been reading, I think. It doesn’t do me well to be so lovey-dovey, considering we’re stepping into the lion’s den tomorrow.”

Edwina laughed and got up. “He is not so bad, Kate!”

Kate shrugged. Somewhere deep inside of her, she felt something change. Fate or gods or whatever created the world and brought her up to that point started to move with speed. In her apartment, she felt small, like everything was as fast as light and Kate was missing out on something. Maybe her conversation with Edwina wasn’t meant for her sister, but for her.

Was she not seeing that love is running with open arms towards her? How did Kate Sheffield not realize that the wheel of fate was pointing at her with Cupid’s sharp arrow?

And how did Anthony not see that with every declaration he made against romance, he was getting even closer to finding the one thing that everybody longed for? Love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!  
> I managed to get this shorther chapter done today, because I probably won't upload as frequently in the next days.   
> I wanted to focus a bit on Kate and Edwina as we're approaching Aubrey Hall, where we are getting A LOT more characters.   
> What do you think? Opinions? I really like reading your comments!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


	4. Drive then

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kate, Edwina and Anthony in a car.

The following morning found our not-so-comedic trio outside Kate’s block, staring intensely at Anthony’s car and Newton, her dog. Edwina was looking around her, hoping that avoiding the budding problem between the other two would disappear. One was seething at the car and the other at the dog.

“Do you really have to bring him?” Anthony pointed at the dog. No matter what Kate said, Newton was fat, overweight.

“Yes,” Kate said very offended.

“Can’t you make him run next to the car? He looks like he needs it,” Anthony said as he opened the truck. Newton inclined his head toward him and snarled. Anthony scoffed at him.

The girls brought their suitcases and started putting them in the car. He extended a hand to help them, but both avoided his hands quickly. With their father not around, the girls displayed the “manly” force needed in a household. _Ha! You’re not needed,_ Kate said smugly in her head.

“I would’ve been perfectly fine driving by myself to Aubrey Hall and if it weren’t for Edwina, I wouldn’t have to look at your ugly face this whole ride.”

“You’ll sit in the back, you troll, stare at the road,” he replied without looking up from the car. Their conversations didn’t require as much passion as before, they were starting to become entertaining.

“Unfortunately for both of us, I can’t,” Kate whined and opened the door.

“Why?”

Edwina looked at him apologetically. “I get sick in the front.”

“But you always stood in the passenger seat before!” he whined as well. He doesn’t even have to try and fate will stuff Kate Sheffield down his throat. _I’d rather stuff myself down her throat_. He pretended he didn’t think that.

“It was never a really long ride, but for three hours I really can’t, I’m sorry.”

Kate shrugged at them and got in the car, with Newton at her feet. “Music shotgun!”

Anthony’s voice boomed in the car. “NO.”

Edwina would remember this car ride for the rest of her life. Perhaps, because she realized why she should break up with Anthony. Which was not a good thing for her considering she was going there as his girlfriend. But besides this, the memory would forever be imprinted in her brain because she never wanted to kill Kate as much as she did now. When she wanted to be annoying, she succeeded.

One thing she always appreciated about Kate was her intelligence, reason for her very impertinent way of annoying. Edwina assumes that Anthony was the chosen victim, but she was caught in the cross fire. Or more likely, purposely put there.

Looking back at the conversation, Edwina was stuck between wanting to strangle her sister or applaud her for her way of thinking. Sadly, she knew she wouldn’t do either of these, her approach always softer than she intended.

Anthony always liked driving. His father taught him how to drive, hence the symbolic meaning, but he liked it with or without it. The workload at home always pushed him to show his need of danger and fun elsewhere. Places like the highway or less populated roads, where he could feel the engine of the car roaring. Of course, let’s not jump to conclusions, he would only do so alone. Or so he thought.

Kate watched him driving like a school girl. She felt bad for eyeing him, but she felt rather obligated to do so. His shirt sleeves were rolled up to his elbow, the buttons a bit more opened than usual. She could swear it was a tighter shirt than the ones he usually wore. His hair stood freer, as he didn’t feel the need to do his hair that day. His hands curled easily around the wheel while he changed lanes.

All of a sudden, a car sped up next to him and got in his way annoying enough for Anthony to slow down and let out an angry huff. Kate scoffed next to him and leaned her head on the window. “I hate that.”

A small silence settled between the three of them and looking at Edwina evidently bored in the backseat, Anthony made the fatal decision of engaging in a conversation with the know menace. “Do you drive, Kate?”

“Better than that bastard, I hope so, yeah.”

Two hours left. “I shall see you drive at least once before I die then.”

Kate furrowed her eyebrows. “Do you expect your death in the near future?”

_Possibly._ “Seeing as you will run me over with your car, yes.”

She laughed. Genuinely. “Well, there is a small possibility. You drive so carefully; I will soon be bored and decide on another course.”

Looking at him, she noticed instantly the small jaw tic. He was annoyed. Of course, he was, Kate was aware of the connection between men and cars, seeing as she was absolutely enamored with driving. But she wasn’t aware just how deep Anthony’s love for cars and such ran.

“Do I drive to slow for your desires? Should I go faster?”

Edwina almost whimpered from her seat. She could just feel the tension between the two of them and she was afraid they would explode soon. “Please, don’t.”

Her sister’s voice floated through the car relaxingly to Edwina’s ears. “He won’t go faster, as we’re both scared you will throw up soon, Edwina. Stay calm. We also don’t want you to die of fear before we arrive.”

He smirked from his seat. “Why would she be scared?”

Edwina’s light voice rang, “Bad experiences.”

Kate’s dark voice boomed, “Because you drive like shit.”

It was a lie and she knew it. In the last hour, she saw him drive and he was certainly experienced, but it seemed like a force took over Kate and pushed provoking words out her mouth. She tried to not act surprised at her own speech.

“Kate…” her sister warned from her backseat.

Anthony chuckled darkly. “My father taught me when I was very young how to drive and I almost don’t want to admit it, but I do have a slight criminal record.”

Kate wanted to jump out the window and delete the last month from her life. Or she could go back thirty years in time and prevent his parents from bringing the devil into the world. She knew what was coming up next. She was surprised he did it, but she knew that cool composure didn’t last long. He had to put his anger somewhere.

Edwina looked almost tired of the shit show. “In what way?”

“Oh, you know, just some car racing and such, nothing extreme.” He cleared his throat before grinning. Devilishly Kate was sure. “Look out the window, Edwina.”

Not a second later, he pressed the clutch and grabbed the gear stick, pushing it. The accelerator soon followed.

Anthony was even more relaxed than before. He felt the rush settle in his blood as it usually did and pushed harder.

Edwina was grabbing onto the car, thinking it would soon break and leave her stranded on her chair in the middle of the highway.

Kate was positively squealing with happiness. Glancing, she noticed 323 kilometers per hour. She grinned.

“I would have said something earlier, if I would have known you’re such a speed man.”

He chuckled. “I would have taken the other car, if I’d known you liked it as well.”

Her eyes seemed to double in size as she looked at him almost pleadingly. “Other car?”

“Sports car.”

Edwina spoke up from the backseat, her gripping of the car growing lighter. “You want to see me dead, don’t you?”

“We’re stopping at a gas station in two minutes,” Anthony replied lightly.

“Oh, thank God.”

“You sensible soul,” her sister replied.

A few minutes later the car stopped at a gas station and the trio got out. As Anthony got out to put petrol in, they gathered around the car.

“How’s uni going?” Kate asked.

“Oh, I love it, I really do, it’s so fulfilling just to learn about these things, I can’t even begin to grasp how I’m going to feel in the future,” her sister replied. Edwina was easily caught up in dreams, ideas and illusions, easily swayed by words and such. Her sweet demeanor usually led to people undermining her intelligence, but Kate had to admit her sister was and will continue to be impractical and impressionable.

“Never could understand these two subjects really, but what makes you happy is more than enough,” the elder replied.

“Neither could I. All that philosophy is maddening,” Anthony said.

“I’m not as decisive or as strong as you two.”

Kate enveloped her in a side hug as she brushed the hair out of her sweet sister’s face. “You’re plenty strong, Winnie, we just have big mouths.”

“Speak for yourself, my mouth is of normal size and I’m strong as well,” Anthony quipped, lightening the mood.

“For all that bullshit you spew, I’m surprised you’re not the size of an elephant.”

“Are you calling me fat? That’s quite rude, you know.”

_Twenty stones more and he’d still be hot as hell unfortunately._ “Am I supposed to think we were anything but rude to each other?”

“We did have our moments of tolerance as I recall.”

“As my boss. As Edwina’s boyfriend, I must try to not behave as much as possible.”

“I suppose I couldn’t be just Anthony.”

“Why even articulate the words when you know the answer?”

“You are a menace. I’m aging as we speak.”

“Well, at least you can’t blame for you grey hairs. You had them before we met.”

His hand shot up to the two grey hairs that sprouted on his head. “I didn’t think they were noticeable.”

“Oh, they aren’t, I just took a guess that you had some.”

“I swear upon my life that I will give you grey hairs in return, Sheffield.”

“You just try.”

Edwina turned to stone in her place next to Kate. She felt like a guest in their little charade. She couldn’t keep the same conversations that they had, she wasn’t even remotely interested in the same things that he was and even sadder was the fact that she wasn’t interested in him. He was an interesting person from afar and up close as well, but in now way compatible to her. They weren’t good or bad, therefore she had no reason to put an end to their so-called relationship.

She may have been young, but she knew that in three months people usually did more than just a peck on the lips. They were mere friends in romantic settings with no romantic actions.

She knew he had plans on marrying her, but she knew he wasn’t going to pressure her into anything.

In her heart she knew. Her philosophy helped her. Edwina knew it, trapped between two people who were drawn to each other like water to shore. No matter the circumstance, some people found their way back to each other every time, in every life.

Kate wouldn’t see it as easy as she did and neither will Anthony. But a little help along the way was never out of question.

A moment of sadness washed over her, when she realized she would soon be alone under her sister’s doting care. It was, of course, quickly replaced by the excitement of her sister being in love. Well, in the future. Very distant future, Edwina realized. Kate would never yield. Not even to her own heart and happiness.

Looking at Anthony, Edwina understood the attraction. A father and a brother at eighteen, people usually tended to offer their help, thinking that he was in over his head. The young man then and the man now wanted understanding, an equal beside him, no someone who tried to override him with pity.

Kate sighed. “I’m going to the bathroom.”

That left Anthony and Edwina alone. Bridgerton had a smile stuck on his face after his conversation with Kate, but after her departure his face returned to its neutral state. Tension settled in between two of them.

Anthony smiled endearingly at her, just like he usually did with his sisters. A terribly disturbing thought. She looked back at him curiously. “May I be blunt?”

“Of course.”

“Do you love me? Or do you like me? Romantically?” she asked. She tried to channel her inner Kate in order to get through this conversation.

His brow furrowed, as he took her in. The diplomatic side of him and his honesty fought for a few moments. They both felt the direction of the conversation, but the course of it was harder to determine.

He sighed. “As much as you do me, I suppose.”

“Have you ever been in love, Anthony?”

With a sudden flash of unexpected memories, another sigh came out. “I think I have, but clearly not as deep or profound as others have been.”

“Should you be in love with me then, you would know it.”

“I don’t think one knows exactly, when one is in love, but, yes, there may be a feeling.”

“And do you feel it?” she said slowly. “Because, Anthony, I tried to feel it and I don’t.”

A second later, Kate emerged.

_What am I going to do, when I bring home two women and none of them my girlfriend?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI!!!  
> Sorry for the delay from the last chapter, I was busy with schoolL((((  
> omaigad they cast our Kate i'm so excited, but how long will we wait...  
> DO TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT THIS STORY


	5. Wolves travel in packs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Bridgertons meet the Sheffields.

After the last incident between Anthony and Edwina, their conversation remained unfinished. The rest of the car ride was pleasantly quiet, as both sisters drifted off. He chuckled as he looked at them. Edwina was tucked next to the window, her head leaned on her arm. She looked serene. Kate slept on the armrest, softly snoring and mumbling. He tried to figure out what she was saying, but it was too hard for him to distinguish. Newton moved himself on the backseat and was growling once in a while.

Another hour passed before they finally arrived at Aubrey Hall. Anthony parked the car and gently spoke up, “We’re here.”

The Sheffield sisters woke up and looked around disoriented for a second. As they directed their gaze to the house, their jaws dropped. A wave of astonishment hit them and stayed there for a long time, much longer than Anthony would’ve preferred really. He noticed that neither was moving and cleared his throat, although that didn’t receive any reaction. “Let’s get out.”

Silence followed.

“Come on!”

Edwina woke from her moment of wonder and nodded quickly. Kate turned to him; mouth agape. She knew that he was wealthy, that his family was quite well known in elite circles, his mother being a socialite. But she didn’t expect their wealthy to extend so much.

Anthony rolled his eyes at her expression and closed her mouth with his finger. Edwina’s eyes watched as he lingered a second more than he should have.

“Stop gaping like a fish,” he said.

“You’re rich!” Kate exclaimed.

He glared. “I’m aware.”

“Oh my god, I thought Lady Whistledown was exaggerating when she kept calling you a Lord, but you really are one,” she said factually.

Edwina sprung from her backseat between the two of them. “You’re a Lord?!”

Anthony sighed and let his head hit the seat behind him. Most people knew of his wealth; he didn’t flaunt it, but he didn’t hide it either. The lordship part was usually excluded from the information he put out, although he cursed Whistledown daily for the things she said about him. Not entirely wrong, but he wasn’t always comfortable with people so aware of his actions. He liked the spotlight, but he didn’t want to go blind.

“I am,” he resigned.

The sisters analyzed him for a second before they turned to each other. A silent conversation took place between them, leaving Anthony out of the picture. He regarded them and considered breaking their discussion, but not a second later, they turned back to him.

Kate shrugged and opened the car door.

It was a new information, but not an important one. Apparently.

They went to get their luggage, when Kate saw a figure appearing from the distance. It was a man, running towards them.

He was the same height as Anthony with the same chestnut hair and bone structure. She took him in and realized that he was one of the other Bridgerton brothers, although she was taken aback by the resemblance. They could pass more as twins then as brothers.

As he stopped in front of them, she realizes where the differences began. He was lighter than Anthony in every way: body lither, his smile glued onto his face, compared to Anthony’s brooding looks, his aura friendlier, but most definitely slyer than his brother’s.

Anthony closed the boot and turned to his appearing brother. His face broke into a grin, as he let down the luggage and met him halfway, enclosing him in a hug. He laughed as he spoke, “What are you doing here, you bastard?”

The obviously younger man grinned back at him, “I took an earlier flight from Greece.”

“I’m sure Mother is pleased,” Anthony responded.

“She is,” he replied, before turning to the sisters. “I’m Colin, Anthony’s younger better brother,” he said, extending his hand to Kate.

The latter giggled at his remark.

“Hello, Edwina,” he said familiarly. 

“Hi.”

“Oi, I thought the sea would calm you down, not make you more pig headed than usual,” Anthony said loudly, clearly not affected.

Colin grinned again. The two of them grabbed a hold of the luggage and began their walk to the house.

Kate’s eyes flew quickly to the landscape around them. The Bridgerton House, named Aubrey Hall, was situated close to other houses, but far away enough to be surrounded by a remarkable number of trees, bushes and flowers. Her hands itched to take a picture or take out her painting set and start replicating the colors.

The younger cleared his throat and turned to Kate. “Well, seeing as I already know Edwina, I’m quite familiar with her opinion of my brother, but I don’t know yours. Do tell, please,” he said charmingly.

If Kate wasn’t who she was, she would surely be wrapped around his finger, his speech so convincing. But she wasn’t the type to do so, thankfully. “Nothing much to tell, I’m afraid,” she responded quickly.

Anthony snorted from beside Colin. “We find one another almost tolerable.”

“Almost,” she quipped.

Colin smiled happily. “That is fantastic! A woman who despises Anthony!” he said excitedly. “I think I love you.”

Anthony knew of his brother’s powers to make friends in seconds, to bend everything to his will just with his smile. He just hoped Kate was not easily persuaded.

She laughed. “I find it hard to believe that I’m the first person to dislike him.”

The older brother sighed. “You’re not. Colin’s a sore loser, please, leave him be.” He prayed that she would let it go, that she would feel awkward and direct the conversation elsewhere.

Edwina threw him a pitiful smile, but didn’t interject. _Smart girl_.

“Oh, that couldn’t possibly be true! I’m sure Colin is a fantastic loser, but pray tell, Colin, why am I such a surprise to you?”

“No, don’t- “

Colin interrupted quickly. ‘Oh, you see, my brothers and I are all of the heterosexual persuasion and you can imagine that, as men, we do pride ourselves with our girlfriends and other women we might have next to us,” he began.

Edwina chuckled next to him. ‘Oh, my God.”

“Colin, don’t you start- “

“So, one night, when my brothers and I, Anthony and Benedict that is, we couldn’t take Gregory, he hasn’t even had a girlfriend, poor lad- “

“He’s fourteen!”

“Yeah, that is true. One night we decided to go into town and like dirty scoundrels that we are, we started a contest. The one with most phone numbers by the end of the night would be declared the best ladies’ man out of all of us,” Colin told the girls very animatedly.

Kate grinned next to him, clearly amused, while Edwina was shaking her head in disbelief, equally amused.

“Who won?”

“Anthony did! The fucking scumbag, can you imagine?”

The paternal instincts kicked in. “Don’t curse.”

“Oh, give me a break, they’re not babies,” Colin replied.

“They’re not, but you might be.”

Kate intervened. “So, I take it, you do not agree with the winner of the contest?” she asked sweetly. Anthony gaped at her. She was trying to fish for information about him from his siblings and it was evidently working.

Colin responded immediately. “Of course, I’m not! I’m more charming than him and Benedict is taller, although I’m not sure that helps him very much.”

A new voice snuck in. “What doesn’t help me?”

The new addition to the group was no doubt another Bridgerton. Kate deduced that he was the mentioned Benedict. Just as Colin said, he was taller than the other two. But most different from both of them, he was much dreamier looking. While Anthony and Colin wanted to be charming and had a big presence, wanting to capture the attention, Benedict had no such intentions. It came much more naturally than to the others did, but he didn’t want to. He looked like he was more attentive to the film in his head than to the world around him. Kate noticed a swatch of color on his hand.

Colin, once again, grinned. “Your height.”

The new comer furrowed his eyebrows before dismissing his younger brother. He turned to the women and smiled. “I’m Benedict, nice to meet you.”

“I’m Edwina,” she said.

Kate turned to him and said her name quickly before, “Do you paint?”

He blinked once from the suddenness of her actions. “I do. Do you?”

Not wanting to admit it, Anthony noticed how her face lit up. He noted it somewhere in the back of his mind that Kate liked to paint, even though he didn’t know what to do with the information.

Her voice was lighter than before. “I do. My hands itch to paint what I see.”

His brother chuckled in return. “I have a lot of paintings with just this garden. Winter, spring, whatever the season or weather is, this place looks different every day.”

Kate smiled sheepishly, noticing the attention attracted upon her from the other participants and cleared her throat. It was already getting a little too cold, even for her, lover of nature. “Let’s go inside.”

“Of course.”

* * *

The three Bridgerton brothers and the Sheffield sisters entered the house and began undressing. Once hats, scarves, gloves and jackets were discarded, a singular moment of silence settled between them. Anthony looked at Kate a split second before watching Edwina, while the two brothers expected the exchange of looks. Edwina switched between her sister and Anthony, while Kate smiled oblivious at the brothers.

Not a second later, the sound of footsteps swallowed the whole house; to the guests, it sounded like someone was running for dear life towards the door, but the others knew it was the most usual course of the morning.

For the curious, it was known that the Bridgertons travelled in packs. The sight of one Bridgerton, alone (the horror!), was most unusual. They didn’t know the world without one another and they were sure to always be surrounded in some way by family.

Anthony and Benedict, the first two born, always in the company of one another for a number of years, were together in most situations and for quite some time, were known as the Bridgerton duo. Although, the eldest did act upon his role as the future head of the family, Benedict was the one Anthony saw close second. Male wise, seeing as there were more capable female contenders. Yes, A and B were their parents’ pride for a while, seeing as their plan was to stop at two kids.

Colin came as a surprise for the four-piece family. The Bridgerton family spirit was strong even at the start, when the numbers were much lower, therefore A and B made sure that their newest addition was stuck to their side like glue, even though the seven-year difference could be a bit of a problem. One has to give credit, a thirteen-year-old was rarely seen so close to a six-year-old. Their mother blamed A and B for the unusual fast maturing progress of Colin. Out of the three of them, he was the most charming and loosely lipped, therefore mother was coincidentally more forgiving. Of course, she admits to nothing.

Quickly after C came young and innocent Daphne. A and B were most excited for the arrival of a new boy to the growing football team, but stopped short at the sight of the most definitely feminine presence. It took a few months for the boys to understand that the new addition wasn’t so similar to them, but their love knew no bounds. A, B and C quickly developed the vulture skill: any boy to come in a six feet radius of Daphne would quickly be noticed and threw over a cliff. Aware of their own thoughts regarding girls, they were petrified to see their sisters interact with other boys. It took one big of a lecture from Mother for them to leave Daphne a bit more alone. Violet Bridgerton didn’t half mind the protection of the brothers, but Daphne was becoming too whiny even for her taste. Closer in age than any other siblings before, Daphne and Colin felt privy to a relationship that no one else had.

Eloise was the much-expected new girl. Daphne was starting to be annoyed by her obnoxious brothers and a girl was exactly what she needed. Although, smart mouthed Eloise wasn’t exactly what she wanted, she was welcomed with open arms. Intelligent from a young age, she was the challenge the boys needed. Already aged twelve, A was getting more comfortable with his role as older cooler brother and felt even more malleable under his sisters’ touch and will. Quickly smitten with her and her way with words, A, B and C saw Eloise as the honorary brother. D was not too upset about this, seeing as she liked being coddled and motherly more.

Francesca was the Bridgerton mystery, her sense of independence much stronger than her siblings’. Paired with E’s smart mouth, Francesca’s powerful silent presence, they were seen as a deathly duo. Each slyer than the other, it was terrifying to be at the hands of their wrath. It was saddening for all of the Bridgerton clan, when Francesca announced her early departure from the motherly house, but none too surprising. Francesca shined brighter on her own and was more capable of handling herself than most people.

Gregory, the last Bridgerton boy, still young, was softer than his other siblings. As intelligent and as funny as his brothers, but much more aware of their mistakes, clearly smart enough not to make the same mistakes. Younger and warmer at heart, Gregory was even more naïve than he wanted to show: growing up with loving siblings, he didn’t expect the worst from people. Although it was hard for Mother to admit, A was his father in every way that mattered. From age eighteen onward, A filled in the fatherly spot, making sure that Gregory would not feel the absence of a father. Apart from the appellative, A taught Gregory how to be. From all of his brothers, Gregory looked up to A with such adoration, it was hard to wonder how one could separate them.

Hyacinth, the last addition, was in every way the opposite of a delicate flower. According to the Bridgertons, she was the perfect combination of E and A: her sister’s wit and her brother’s nerve. Naturally, A was wrapped around her fingers. Even more so than her other siblings, her father spot was filled by him. But under his guidance, she was raised in such a way that Hyacinth would know no danger. It is known that nobody crossed her if one wished to have his head by the end of the day. With lovely eyes, so adoring, one was usually misled by her appearance, but A could not care less. In other siblings’ eyes, she was fierce and fearless, but A knew her better than that, wiping away more tears than he ever wanted to see on his sister’s face.

It was easily explained why Anthony, grown man at age 23 still lived in his mother’s house. One has to mention that the house is so big, one could easily avoid family members for a number of days. He had bought an apartment in London, in which he slept a lot of days, but he still went back to the house. How could he not? He knew his mother was a very capable woman and an extraordinary woman, but he couldn’t leave her, when he knew how much she had to do.

Too often, one could find Anthony Bridgerton hunched over a first grader’s homework, finishing it in an awkward scribble, because Hyacinth fell asleep doing it. Too often, one could find Anthony Bridgerton playing football in his garden at two a.m. because Gregory wanted to win the next day’s match against the school’s bully. Too often, one could find Anthony Bridgerton on a five-hour facetime call with Francesca, who, prideful as she was, was missing home, but knew that, if she were to see her mother, she would surely return, even though she didn’t want to. Too often, one could find Anthony Bridgerton playing cards with Eloise, until his cheeks hurt from laughing; sometimes from jokes and sometimes from the purity of victory. Too often, Anthony Bridgerton watched as his first sister, sweet Daphne, left his side, so happily in love, leaving him like a teary mother at a wedding. Too often, Anthony Bridgerton was caught saving Colin from situations one dare not saying without blushing. Too often, Anthony Bridgerton turned to Benedict, exhausted from everything, but still smiling, ready to hear about his brother’s newest art.

Present day, Anthony of 30 years old, lives alone in London, but visits his mother more than usually does. After she officially left the law firm to him, she had more time to tend to her children, thus Anthony moved out of the house, much to the dismay of his siblings.

He saw his siblings regularly, but it still tightened his heart to see them after a short absence.

* * *

The pack descending upon the stairs was very much scary from Kate’s perspective. It was quite hard for her untrained eyes to distinguish one person from another using anything other than age. The similarity in looks was exceptional; the printer never stopped.

“Anthony!” a young girly voice was heard just as Hyacinth ran full speed towards her brother. She jumped somewhere along the distance, encapsulating him in a bone crushing hug, just as her brother opened his arms to stop her from falling.

He laughed happily; head hidden in her curls of hair. “You saw me last week, Hy,” he said to her, gently putting her down.

“Exactly! I haven’t seen you since last week!” she reprimanded him.

Colin turned to Benedict, scoffing. “I never see fussing like this over me and I’m gone for months.”

Hyacinth turned to him, arms crossing over her chest, obviously wanting to appear intimidating. “I was just as happy to see you.”

Colin placed a hand over her head and turned her back to him, to trap her in a hug. “Yeah, sure.”

She huffed silently, secretly satisfied with the affection.

Next was Eloise, who came up to her brother and hugged him just as passionately, but quieter. It was almost two weeks since he last saw her, he reminded himself. “Hi, E,” he muffled.

“Hi, bro,” she smirked.

He turned to Gregory, who was waiting in the back of the group. He had been on three-month exchange program and in that period of time, he grew three inches, much to Anthony’s dismay. Benedict was the only one taller than him and he wanted it to stay that way. The younger came up to him and shook his hand as manly as a fourteen-year-old could. “Hello.”

Anthony gaped at him. “What am I? One of your school buddies? You don’t even hug me, now you’re a man?”

Gregory blushed sheepishly and hugged him.

“That’s more like it.”

Anthony looked around and asked, “Where is Fran?”

“Here.”

He turned towards the sound of the voice and saw that, while he was busy greeting his siblings, Francesca introduced herself to the guests. They were chatting away, when Anthony interrupted their conversation. He made a few steps towards her and engulfed her in a brother sort of hug. The one that leaves you breathless and so badly looking, one would be scared of you.

Francesca broke away from the hug and flattened her hair. “You didn’t need to do that,” she grumbled.

Eloise cleared her throat loudly as a signal for Anthony to introduce his guests, who were observing the situation from afar.

Kate was incredibly taken aback by the reaction that Anthony got from his siblings. She was past hating him, but he still didn’t hold a place in her heart; or even on her ‘liked’ list. She didn’t know why she expected him to not be a family man. With seven younger siblings, it was quite hard not to be.

“Oh, yeah. This is Edwina,” he pointed to her, “and this is Kate, her older sister.”

The two of them nodded in greeting, before all of the siblings took turn saying their name.

Hyacinth glared her eyes at the two of them and crossed her arms over her chest. They were curious. How did her brother bring two women home? Oh. Their mother is here. Hyacinth blamed her momentary lack of attention on her happiness to see her brother.

As the group started to rarify, two new figures appeared at the top of the stairs. Kate recognized one of them as her mother and the other one as Violet Bridgerton, mother of eight children. They went down the stairs and each hugged their own children.

Violet turned to Kate and Edwina and smiled brightly. “I’m so pleased to meet you, Mary has told me a lot about you.”

Edwina smiled shyly as Kate responded, “A bit too much probably.”

“Kate,” came her mother’s warning tone.

“My apologies,” she replied to both her and her mother. Anthony snickered.

“No such problem, I enjoy both pertinent and not so pertinent answer,” Violet told her.

Mary Sheffield turned to Anthony and greeted him.

“Pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Sheffield,” he said.

“Oh, Mary, please…”

* * *

Another thirty minutes later, everybody left their luggage in their respective rooms and returned downstairs to serve lunch. Kate was expecting to dissolve anytime she opened her eyes. The house was gorgeous and a definite piece of art. It was most definitely built a century or more ago, but renovated to keep it functional.

Kate and Edwina came out of their rooms and began their way down the stairs. As they reached the end, they were horrified to find out that they were lost. After a split-second decision, they turned left only to bump into Eloise.

The latter arched a brow at them before smiling. “Are you lost?”

Edwina began to shake her head, her very instincts forbidding her to impose upon the host, while Kate spoke loudly, “Yes.”

The Bridgerton daughter stopped between them and hooked her arms under both of theirs. “We’ll walk together.”

“So, Edwina, I must say, I’m quite surprised that Anthony brought you here,” Eloise began.

Edwina blushed and looked down, trying to decipher if she was being mocked or not. She turned her head back to Eloise to follow the conversation.

“Don’t get me wrong, you are lovely in every way, but Anthony doesn’t really choose innocent girls like you.”

To Kate’s surprise, Edwina laughed. “What does he usually choose?”

“Oh, well, what he usually chooses and what he should choose are two different things. He usually picks girls that eat from his palm.”

“And what should he choose?” Edwina’s voice was light and honeyed, Kate came to realize as she watched her little sister. Their eyes met and she knew immediately that her little Winnie was planning something.

“Girls that put him in his place, you know.”

Edwina hummed.

“Women that challenge him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!  
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter as I wanted to focus more on the narrative and present Anthony as an older brother and the other seven siblings. Not too much happened this time, but I hope Anthony's image is clearer now. I really like him as a family man.   
> Do tell me what you like and don't!!! I want to talk to all of you if I can.  
> See you soon I hope!


	6. You're just loenly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First day of Christmas Week. Warning: Twister and Monopoly

Dinner with the Bridgertons, Kate would soon find out, was an adventure. More of a chaos actually. Of course, it’s not a surprise for nine different people to have different and similar tastes, but dinner was more like hunting than eating.

Kate, Edwina and Eloise entered the dining room last and it looked like everybody was in formation. Since they were little, the Bridgertons had rules. Not really helpful rules, but this one seemed to last. Their mother, Violet, would sit at the head of the table and the youngest next to her. As the family expanded, the older ones got further and further away from their mother.

Violet was seated at one head, although this time a new spot was next to her, one for Mary. At the other head sat Anthony, on his right two open seats for the Sheffield sisters, while opposite them were Benedict and Colin.

Eloise went to her seat, while the girls said their hellos and sat down. Kate met Colin’s eyes and both stifled a laugh. The reason was unknown, but it was hard to not be in a constant state of laughter, when the whole family was there.

Two women entered the room and set the food down. Edwina tried to act as nonchalant as possible. She didn’t have a lot of friends, who had people to bring them their food. She exchanged a glance with Kate, who was just as surprised as her.

Violet caught their silent conversation and chuckled. “Oh, please, do no mistake us for bigger snobs than we actually are. Emily and Annie usually come once a week, but we asked them to cook today as well, since it is your first day here.”

Kate blushed and waved her hands in dismissal, “It really wasn’t necessary, Mrs. Bridgerton.”

The elder shook her head conclusively. “It was. And please, call me Violet.”

“I really couldn’t do that,” Kate replied sheepishly.

“Oh, please, do not make me feel older than I actually am.” Violet’s words were smartly chosen, leaving Kate unable to actually contradict her.

“Sure, Violet,” came her defeated words.

Colin snickered at her words and moved to hide his mouth, but Kate heard him. She narrowed her eyes and stuck out her tongue. He rolled his eyes in amusement.

Then it began.

Eloise’s clear voice filled the room. “Pass me the potatoes, please, Hyacinth.”

“You had them last time and I barely got any!” the younger replied, gripping the bowl harder to her chest.

“I didn’t eat them all! You bloody well know that Colin eats like a pig and stole them, when you weren’t looking,” Eloise replied just as fast.

“Language!”

“I do not eat like a pig and I definitely wouldn’t hide how much I eat,” Colin said, a bit offended. “Look at Benedict, really. He’s the sneaky one.”

The brother in question scoffed next to him. “You just love to blame someone else, don’t you?”

“Since I am not the culprit, yeah, I do,” he told him with a big frown on his face. Food was not something one joked about.

Anthony intervened. “It is true, Ben does steal food, because he knows Mother will take his side.”

Violet’s offended gasp came from the opposite direction. “I take no one’s side, I want food just as much as all of you.”

“Oh, come on, Mother, don’t lie to us. You think Ben is skinny and feed him more. I see his breakfast tray, you know.”

Benedict raised a glass in her direction as a toast. “I always knew I was the favorite one.”

Francesca scoffed. “Everybody knows it’s Colin, not you, sit down, Benny.”

He frowned, while Colin chortled. “I really am, even I know it. Always a pleasure, Mama.”

“I do not- “

Hyacinth stood up from her seat furiously. “I am the youngest, why aren’t I the favorite?”

“You’re too opiniated for Mama, Hy, calm down,” Eloise soothed her.

Gregory laughed. “Too opiniated is a softer approach.”

“I love all of you equa- “

Benedict remained confused. “Why am I not the favorite? I am the most similar to her.”

“No, Daff is.”

“Where is Daff?”

“She’s coming tomorrow,” Hyacinth replied. “I should be the favorite.”

Francesca roller her eyes and dragged her back down to her seat. “You’re Anthony’s favorite, that is enough.”

The younger smiled contently at that, leaving the matter alone.

Anthony groaned. _Why does this happen to me?_ “I do not- “

“YOU DO!”

He threw his hands in frustration at that and gave up the conversation.

A singular moment of silence came. It didn’t last long. “The potatoes, please.”

“No!”

The conversation began again, each more passionate than before as they fought for food, like it wasn’t there in abundance. Kate’s stomach growled softly and that was enough for her. She didn’t have to take part in their fight and leave the food cold.

She began to fill her plate, oblivious to everybody’s eyes besides Edwina’s and Mary’s, content with food around her. It looked like her part of the table had the better food. Or, at least, the one she liked best.

As soon as her plate was full, she started cutting her steak. A gasp was heard and suddenly the world stopped around her, as everybody watched her. She looked up cautiously to find angry and amused eyes staring back at her.

“Kate,” a voice growled at her and she knew it was Anthony. Nobody else had such animalistic reflexes.

She cleared her throat and replied innocently, “Yes?”

“What are you doing?” His words were cold and spat out.

She turned her head to him and rolled her eyes. “Do you need a round of Charades? What does it look like? I’m eating.”

Colin giggled like a school girl, watching the scene unfold. Benedict hit the back of his head with a napkin, as he stifled his own laugh.

“What made you think you could?” Anthony was livid. _Does she have no respect for rules?_

“Oh, do I need the Queen’s permission to eat?”

“Just mine.”

Edwina groaned. These two were so temperamental, it was hard not to ignite each other. But why was it so hard just to eat?

“You’re a bit prissy, but I wouldn’t go that far, really,” came her sarcastic remark. Anthony’s reply was again from the beastly class.

Benedict took pity on her and told her, “This is the first meal of Christmas Week and one must not eat before someone doesn’t win the fight.”

“What fight?” This was getting ridiculous. Since when did dinner come with so many instructions?

Gregory intervened, to Colin’s surprise, who was preparing to do the same. “This fight. Until someone wins the right to take the first mentioned food, no one can eat.”

Edwina giggled, as she observed. Kate was going to throw a fit really soon, if something went wrong, she realized.

“You already have one red flag,” Hyacinth voice resonated through the room. The boys turned to her horrified. The twelve-year-old was a menace, one usually avoided a fight with her.

“Oh, dear God, is it a crime to want to eat after a long day and not take part in a stupid fight?” Kate was already beyond saving; maybe if it were a calmer child and not Hyacinth, she would’ve reacted better, but she was on her last nerve before they even began to eat.

The child was as offended as one could be. The territorial side in her was a force to be reckoned with, even Gregory didn’t want to play with her dolls, when they were younger, just to avoid her nonstop whining.

“Stupid?!” she shrieked. “It’s not stupid! You’re stupid!”

Violet responded immediately, as a mother usually does. “Hyacinth! Are you not ashamed? Apologize to our guest.”

“It’s nothing, Violet, really, I can somewhat understand her- “

She didn’t want to hear it. “Hyacinth! Are you not sorry?”

The girl stomped her foot. Her mother wasn’t the mellow kind, but she rarely found an adult scary enough for her to go down without a fight. “She insulted us!”

“She did not.”

“She did! If she insults us, then I can say whatever I want about her! Why is she even here?”

The rest of the siblings watched in amusement; it was not a rare moment, when Hyacinth made a fuss and stopped everything around her so she could speak her mind. Anthony did have a very soft spot for her, he admitted it, but he didn’t indulge in her childishness.

“I invited her; therefore, she is my guest. Kate didn’t insult and even if she did, you have no motive for acting this way,” he said calmly. The aura around him changed as soon as he acted upon his other role other than brother; their mother was alone and looked like an easier victim for their younger siblings’ hormonal wrath and even though, Violet held her own, but Anthony still had a bigger impact than she would’ve liked.

“But…”

Anthony arched a brow in response.

Hyacinth huffed and sat down defeatedly. “Sorry, Kate.”

“Thank you. I’m sorry for not respecting your tradition,” she said as she turned to the family. “But we can take it this way: I did win the fight because I didn’t indulge in my impulses to wreak havoc and argue with everyone. I chose the smarter method.”

“Ooh,” Colin said under his breath.

Anthony growled. “The potatoes! Now!”

* * *

The rest of the dinner went down almost perfect really. One could not deny the easiness which with Kate communicated with the Bridgerton family, Mary and Edwina a few steps behind her, but still good. Everyone was enamored with her sense of humor and sought out to keep her talking for as long as they could.

It was moments like these, when Mary saw her daughters through a stranger’s eyes. Edwina was soft and light, with nice smiles and carefully chosen words. She indulged in everyone’s desires and spoke like she was reading a fairytale; one could not watch her in awe. Kate, on the other hand, didn’t succumb to the other’s way of speaking; she was the center of attention so easily and just as easily she stepped out of the light. She was magnetic. A fire burning, sometimes higher, sometimes lower, but still so warm and powerful.

As she looked across the table, she realized where Kate annoyance towards Anthony came from. Her daughter liked power too much for her own good, she liked being high and tough, smarter than everyone in the room. She didn’t brag about it naturally, Mary raised her very well, but she didn’t like the feeling of being rivaled. Anthony was not as manageable as she wanted and they were too similar for them not to butt heads.

Violet watched her guests with interest. She knew one of them was the girlfriend and one of them was the sister, but neither fulfilled their role. Edwina acted as a mere friend and Kate was more likely the bane of her son’s existence. Anthony was a complicated man, she knew it; a brother, a father, an attorney, a leader. She wondered where he managed to fit in all these descriptions. He lost himself in his actions often. He had to, he must, he will be, he should and he shall, but when did he stop and breathe. Somewhere along the line, her son seamed to disappear. Of course, he was still there, but he didn’t need her as much as before. Before Edmund’s death, he would come to her, asking for advice, asking for her to turn the flashing light on, so he could see better in the dark of his own mind. Somewhere along the line, he didn’t stop to hug her because he missed her, he hugged her because he knew just as well, she had to do so many things, he knew the burden. Violet didn’t know when the child inside him let go and hid away.

Looking at Kate, she saw a similar light in her. Strong words, strong stance, no reason to let Anthony take the lead, clearly hard for him to understand why.

“You said you travel?” Kate started. She was munching on her steak, this time without glares, as everyone around her talked.

Colin nodded. “I do. I started last year with Italy and this year I went to Greece.”

“You spend a lot of time there?”

“Four months usually.”

“Oh, wow, I couldn’t imagine being such a long time away from home,” she replied. Kate was a homebody, liking the comfort of her own home and quite easily homesick when away.

Benedict smiled. “Yeah, we miss him, but it’s always nice, when he comes back and we can laugh at him. He always says he’s a new person: new religion, new diet, new style. It’s like we’re travelling ourselves.”

“We already got our olive oil presents from him,” Anthony muttered.

“Oh!” Colin liked trouble and he liked seeing his brother suffer. “My dear brother, do not fret. I learnt a new legend as well.”

“Of course, you did.”

“I’m sure you’ve heard about the Apple of Discord. It is said that whenever two people shared such a metaphorical apple, Zeus looked down upon them and was immediately taken aback. Therefore, he blessed and cursed them with the burning need to consume one another in sexual relations,” he said stoically.

“Did he?” Kate replied quizzically.

“He did. I suspect you and Anthony will soon feel the curse,” he told her grinning.

Benedict laughed loudly and clapped Colin on the back in a congratulations.

“You sick fuck,” Anthony muttered and leaned to kick him under the table.

Colin dodged and smirked, but it went away just as Kate smacked him. He looked at her surprised.

“You know, he is dating my sister, right?”

“He may be, but I’m not blind.”

Thankfully, Edwina was talking to Eloise at the moment and was not aware of the conversation. Kate avoided Anthony’s eyes and went back to her food.

“So, Benedict, art?” she asked him. “Please?”

* * *

Half an hour later everybody was full with food and reasonably happier with no other prepared fights on the way. They got up from the table and retreated to the living room. Even bigger than the dining room, Kate felt honored to just see the room. High ceilings, tall windows, ornated walls and expensive furniture, she was scared to touch.

All in all, the Bridgertons were a normal family with remotely usual activities and hobbies. One could forget about the wealth and the intricate history, if one wished. For Kate it was all too easy.

Huddled up in the living room, all of the family, minus Daphne and Simon, and the Sheffields were discussing the next play of the evening. Discussing would be a kind word. More like arguing.

The huge table in front of them had a number of games stacked upon it. From Monopoly and Scrabble to Twister. It was a matter of mind over body really, which were you more likely to torture today? The room was divided, with the three guests quite literally stuck in the middle. Violet was settled on the sofa with a book, dismissing them.

Mary turned to her and asked, “Don’t you have a preference?”

Violet chuckled and shook her head vigorously. “Oh, no, I do not have a death wish. They take after their father. All of them,” she muttered the last part. “You should back down as well, I suggest.”

“Is it that bad?”

“They’re horrible, Mary, they are all beasts,” their mother replied.

Mary excused herself out of the games.

Circling back to the children, one could not get over the passion with which they played. Well, not played. Argued. Somewhere along the line, they got lost in diplomacy and threw it out the window, but that’s just how it is with siblings. Perhaps.

“Oh, you dumb brute, do you not know anything other than throwing around your limbs?” Eloise asked loudly from across the room, pointing her finger dramatically at Colin.

He scoffed, placing a delicate hand on his chest. “It is a classic game! I am not a brute for wanting to play something more fun than fucking Monopoly!”

Anthony growled besides Eloise and as they were the only ones to prefer this game, they had to put up a tougher front. “We want to cultivate your wilted, ugly brains, so you don’t die like gorillas!”

“With Monopoly?!”

Benedict stood up from the couch and stood up on the table, as Violet groaned at the sight of her kids. “Charades is superior to Twister and Monopoly; therefore, you are all wrong.” Gregory and Francesca nodded beside him, proudly standing up for their brother.

“Oh, you are one piece of utter shite,” Anthony grumbled.

“Language, brother,” Colin said smirking. “Why don’t we ask our dear guests?”

He pointed at Kate and Edwina.

The latter shook her head suddenly, wanting no part of that debacle. She didn’t have the energy for so many competitive people, especially when she knew how bad her sister could get. “Do not ask me.”

The pairs of eyes turned to Kate. She sighed and considered the three options. “It’s barely seven o’clock. We can play Twister now and Charades after. But Monopoly is too much for the night and it takes too long.”

Anthony and Eloise threw their hands up in the air in frustration. “I was starting to like you, Kate!” she cried out.

“Oh, do forgive me,” she replied teasingly. She felt Anthony’s eyes burn holes in the side of her head and turned to him, eyebrow arched. “Yes?”

“You are terribly annoying,” he replied.

“Just trying to get a promotion, boss,” she said ironically, plopping back down on the sofa next to Colin.

So here we find ourselves, mere minutes later caught in another Christmas Week fiasco, with many more to come, don’t you worry. While the debacle regarding the choosing of the game was quite hideous, the play was even worse.

Accommodated to the large family, Violet bought a much bigger Twister for her children years before and ever since then, the game was respectfully used. They set it down in the living room, somewhere far away from the glass table and made Edwina the host, in charge of colors and coordinating.

It started off simply.

“Kate, right foot red.”

“Benedict, left hand yellow.”

And so on.

At some point, the commotion started.

Colin was bent over Gregory, with both of his hands over him and one foot under him. The younger brother was in terrible danger of dying from asphyxiation from his brother’s weight. “Watch your mouth, Greg, or I’ll leave you without a lung.”

“You’re a fat bitch, Colin, what do they feed you in Greece?” he managed to say.

“Language, Colin!”

Hyacinth giggled. “Fat bitch.”

“Don’t you start, Hyacinth!” came Violet’s immediate response.

The youngest was comfortably standing up on the corner of the mat, with both hands in the air. _Her luck is incredible…_

Benedict was doing an inexplicable split over Eloise’s body, who was quite terrified of her brother’s agility. She was stretched over him and Colin, gasping for air every two minutes.

“Ben, you’re awfully flexible for a man your age, you know.”

“I’m twenty-eight, Eloise!”

“That’s quite old, you know. I’m surprised you don’t have your diapers on.”

Anthony’s voice rang out in the room. “I’m thirty, E!”

“You’re talking from the grave, bro.”

Mary and Violet rolled their eyes.

Anthony was crouched with his hands behind him, mimicking a table. One could suppose the Charades game started earlier. Adding to his anger, Kate was standing over him, on foot between his legs, hands on his left side, while her hair was falling in his eyes and mouth every time she moved. “No, I’m speaking from Kate’s hair.” She laughed.

“Taste good, bro?” Colin laughed.

“Strawberries is it, Kate?” he asked devilishly.

She turned her head, smacking him in the eyes, even more intentionally than before. “Lilies.”

“Oh, I should remember that,” he replied sarcastically.

Kate flicked her head again, hair coming in waves again. “You should.”

“Bitch,” he mumbled.

Looking around, he noticed that their mothers were seated in the kitchen, chatting over tea, far away from their company.

“Scumbag.”

“Shitty lawyer.”

“Sleezy partner.”

Edwina was looking at them amusedly. She didn’t mind their chatter, her stance on Anthony stronger than before and her stance on Kate and Anthony even more defined than before. And as soft as she was, she wasn’t delicate, she liked banter as well. “Left hand yellow, Anthony.”

His hand moved even farther under Kate, placing the two of them closer, almost face to face. Under Kate’s mane of hair, it was hard to see their faces.

For a split second, they were stuck. Anthony looked up at her, taking in her face again, as if he never saw her before. Her features were softer up close, her cheeks puffier and higher, nose softly turned up above her terribly reddened lips. Even her gaze was prettier up close, the sparkle in her eyes somewhat directed to him now. Her breath came down upon his own lips and he could feel the smell of the green tea, they drank before, combined with her shampoo scent. His eyes travelled down to her arched neck, to her sharp collarbones, to the valley between her breasts, hidden away in her blouse.

Kate looked down upon him, burning under his gaze. It was obvious he was taking her in, she could feel the trail of his eyes and how deep it was going. A blush marred her cheeks. He was handsome, she couldn’t resist thinking. His eyes were sharp, going over her face, and his cheeks were covered in stubble, accentuating his lips and she could swear they were never this soft looking. While she was softer, he was sharper, his cheeks and jawline clearly defined. His hair was flopping down on his forehead, a single strand of grey hair sticking out to her.

She blushed again.

He smirked.

A few moves from the other siblings later, Kate and Anthony were stuck in the same position. He could not resist feeling the power from the proximity between the two of them, even more, when she was so clearly flustered.

Her arm was starting to shake from the effort and she lifted it up to push her hair out of her eyes. In vain though, as it fell back on her face, obstructing her view. She huffed out in frustration.

Anthony reached out his hand and pushed the hair out of her face. Kate turned stone cold as she felt his hand slowly go over her face and next by her ear to settle the hair down before going back down.

He smiled at her, this time more genuinely.

“Kate, left foot blue.”

They both looked down. There was no way to move her leg without touching or rather, kicking him in a pretty sensitive place.

He looked up angry. “Don’t you even try.”

“I want to win, you must understand, dear boss,” she replied innocently.

Colin laughed. “Come on, Ant, it’s not like you’ve never felt this before.”

“I’ll be careful.”

Slowly she lifted her foot of the ground, her toes spread up, trying to avoid his crotch. They held their breath, as she moved her foot and breathed out in relief as she put it in the right position.

Well, it would have gone well, if Colin didn’t push her right back on Anthony’s lap.

The man groaned in pain, as Kate clearly landed on a wrong part of his sensible anatomy. She quickly got up from her position on his lap and placed a hand on her mouth in shock. It quickly turned into laughter, bubbling at her lips.

“Don’t you dare laugh, Kate,” he muttered, holding the victims.

She laughed harder. “I’m trying not to.”

“It’s your fault!”

Colin smirked.

“He pushed me!”

He tsked. “You should know, dear Kate, we are a family of cheats. It doesn’t matter what we do, it’s your fault for letting yourself be fooled.”

Anthony groaned one last time before he stood up as graceful as an elephant. “Well, we lost this one,” he told her. “You bastard, you’re not sleeping tonight.”

Hyacinth whined. “Are we playing or not?”

Edwina smiled. “Of course.”

* * *

An hour later, they were finished with Charades as well. It went as well as Twister did, one could say, if one was blind.

_“That’s a fucking rat, what do you want from me?” Francesca pointed at her youngest brother._

_“He’s pointing out cheese, you idiot,” Eloise replied._

_“You’re both wrong, if he’s still mimicking, you know,” Edwina replied._

_Kate groaned at her team. Gregory really had no idea how to play this game. She scoured her brain for something even remotely close to what he was doing, but the seconds on the clock were slowly drowning. “Ratatouille! Minnie Mouse! What is it?”_

_Gregory got up frustrated from the ground. “It was a squirrel.”_

_“You’re the squirrel, you fucking twat, how was that a squirrel?” Francesca began sprinting around the house, ready to decapitate her brother._

_The elder sons laughed and got ready for their round. Benedict pulled out a word from the bunch. It read ‘Shitty Lawyer’._

_He looked back at Kate with a gasp and she shrugged. Anthony followed the motion with glared eyes._

_His brother began to point at the two of them, until the word ‘lawyer’ was guessed. Slowly he began to point at his bottom and what may come out of it._

_Anthony’s blood began to boil in him as he put two and two together. He pointed a finger at Kate. “You menace.”_

_“I don’t think that’s the word,” Colin said._

_“Say it or you lose,” she replied._

_Anthony growled. “Shitty lawyer.”_

_Benedict grinned. “That’s it!”_

* * *

After the eventful game, the atmosphere seemed to lighten up. Mary wanted to laugh at the suddenness with which the Bridgertons acted. Fight, then make up. It was obvious they loved each other, but it still amused and amazed her.

At ten o’clock, the yawns began. At their mothers ushering, Hyacinth and Gregory retreated to their rooms, Benedict soon after them.

Not more than half an hour later, almost everyone left the room.

Kate went to the kitchen, oblivious to the one watching her, hoping she was alone. She got out the bottle of milk from the fridge and filled a cup, wanting to heat it.

“Make one for me as well, please.”

Like struck by lightning, she jumped out of her skin. She could feel her soul, leaving her body in that very moment. She turned around slowly, coming face to face with Anthony. He was smirking down at her, proud with her fright.

She gritted her teeth. “Sure.”

Taking out another cup, she continued her administrations. He leaned on the counter behind him and watched her careful not to let his eyes wander. “We’re quite a loud bunch, I’m sorry for your ears,” he began.

Kate smiled and shook her head. “I loved it, really. It’s very entertaining.”

He arched a brow. “And tiring.”

“If you don’t have the nerves, probably.” She handed him his cup filled with milk.

He hummed in response. “Can’t sleep without it?” he said nodding towards the cup.

Kate leaned on the counter next to him. “Just to be sure, I guess.” Her phone binged the second she said it. Her face changed when she read the text she got.

“Bad ex-boyfriend?” Anthony said jokingly. _I have never even thought if she has a boyfriend or not…_

The grimace on her face was more than an explanation. “Yes, quite that.”

“Well, I won’t hold back and I’ll be pushy. Do tell me about it, if you feel like it.”

She looked up at him and laughed.

It was a weird sight to see for him. Especially so close. He took note of the dimple in her right cheek that sparked up at her laughter. A melodious sound, he had to admit. It wasn’t too loud or aggravating, floating perfectly to his ears. He wanted to hear it more, he realized suddenly.

“The usual story, really. We were together for two months before he confessed, he liked Edwina better, but he settled for me,” she told him quickly. “You’re the same blood, so there can’t be such a big difference,” she said with a rougher voice, mimicking the mentioned ex.

Anthony scowled in disgust. It baffled him how someone could even think that way. No matter their start and their bickering, Kate was beautiful and smart and funny, any man would be lucky to have her. And who would even think they were _settling_ for her?

“Some people are disgusting.”

“Yeah. He just sent me a message, asking if Edwina is in town,” she said lightly.

Anthony didn’t find it on him to be jealous. Of course, protective, but not jealous. He should be jealous. But he wasn’t.

He frowned in response. “I’m sorry, Kate, that you had to suffer through that.”

She shrugged. “It happens.”

Looking back at their cups, they found them empty. Settling back on their feet, they started to go to the stairs, each to their own bedroom.

“Good night, Anthony. You do annoy me, but it was a fun day,” she said, hoping to go to bed soon.

He smiled. “I’m happy to be of service. I must say I’m happy to have left the hatred in the past.”

“Well, it’s not far away just yet, be careful.”

He laughed. “Always on my toes with you, Kate.”

“As you should be.”

Hours later, Anthony thought back to Kate. And he was right. She was beautiful and smart and funny and lonely in her room.

He blamed the feeling on the lack of action in the last months.

 _She’s attractive, it’s normal, just get over it_.

We’re hoping our hero will soon see, sometimes it’s more about bodies and consummation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, how are all of you?  
> I made this chapter more focused on dialogue than the last one and sadly, not a lot of Kate and Anthony interaction, but we still had something. I'm building up their sexual attraction and friendship at the same time, so I'm losing my mind with this.   
> We got a bit more of the Bridgerton family dynamic, what do you think?  
> We're getting a lot more Kate and Anthony next chapter, so stay tuned for that! Tell me all of your thoughts on this chapter, please! It's quite late for me, so I'm going to sleep   
> gn x


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